Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

The Kranner Fountain on Smetana Embankment dates from the mid-19th century and was designed as part of the monument to Emperor Franz I, whose bronze equestrian statue is situated on it. After 1918, the statue was removed and placed in the storage facility of the Prague City Gallery. Following restoration, it was returned to its original location. Both the monument and the fountain are listed cultural monuments. The reason for the structural alterations was the investor’s intention to restore the existing fountain to working order. The above-ground part of the fountain consists of two sections – a shallow basin situated approximately at ground level and a plinth, which is positioned in the centre of the basin. The basin has the floor plan of a regular eight-pointed star, with a moulded stone balustrade. The lower part of the fountain is shaped like a cross, at the corners of which are allegorical statues. The central section is square in shape, with partially recessed circular columns at the corners; between them, on each wall, are openings with circular lintels from which water flows. Beneath the lower part of the plinth is a space connected by a passageway to Divadelní Street. The passageway houses the drainage system and a new water supply connection for the fountain.

The contract with Josef Max is set out in his extensive biography by Müller of 1877. On 13 January 1845, it was agreed that: "The academic sculptor Mr Joseph Max hereby undertakes the execution and production of all the statues intended to adorn this fountain, in accordance with the design by Master Builder Kranner, (...) namely:
a.) 16 statues representing the 16 districts of Bohemia, and one statue representing the city of Prague, on the lower tier of the fountain.
b.) 8 statues, intended to allegorically represent the arts, sciences and trades of peace, at the ends of the upper main niche,
and finally

c.) the equestrian statue in this main niche, depicting His Majesty Emperor Franz I in his Bohemian coronation regalia.

Bronze equestrian statue.

Equestrian statue of Emperor Franz I, in the full coronation regalia of a King of Bohemia. It is a replica of the original statue by Josef Max, installed in 2003.

Eight allegories of Bohemian Regional Culture

In the 1845 these are described as "the arts, sciences and trades of peace.". In the article in the Illustrirte Zeitung of 1850 these eight statues are described as "The eight allegorical figures of Bohemian national culture - four male, four female - are: industry, trade, mining, agriculture, peace, art, science, fertility - abundance."
In various recent sources the allegory of peace is identified as an allegory of faith.

a. Mír / Peace: Female figure with blossoming olive branch.	b. Veda / Science: Female figure with book.	c. Umění / Art: Female figure with church model (architecture?).	d Obchod / Trade: Male figure with notebook and packages.
e. Prumysl / Industry: Male figure, attribute missing, with tools behind him.	f. Rolnictví / Agriculture: Male figure with sickle en plow.	g. Hornictví / Mining: Male figure with mining tools.	h. Hojnost / Abundance: Female figure with cornucopia.

17 statues representing Praha and the 16 Bohemian regions

"The statues of the Bohemian districts - ingeniously conceived by Joseph Max, skilfully composed and carefully executed in fine-grained Glauputin sandstone-are all life-size and superbly characterised by their most distinctive productive, commercial, historical or other features."

The identification of the regions follows the article in the 1850 Illustrirte Zeitung and Müller's biography of Josef Max from 1870. The descriptions are translations of the 1850 article.
In her bachelor’s thesis, Drdáková attempted to identify the various regions on the basis of their attributes. Apparently, she was not familiar with the article from the Illustrirte Zeitung of 1850 and the 1870 biography, which led her to make a few incorrect identifications. Where her identifications differ, they are indicated in square brackets in grey letters at the end of each text.
In the text below, the German names of the regions are also given in brackets (to ensure consistency with the German-language sources).

1. Praha (Prag): a maiden who, wearing a mural crown upon her head and holding a small oak twig in her right hand, sits upon a throne.

2. Loketský kraj (Elbogener Kreis): home to the healing springs of Marienbad, Franzensbrunn and Karlsbad, and whose forests harbour noble big game - represented by a dashing stag hunter blowing his horn because his hounds have discovered warm healing springs - alluding to the discovery of the Karlsbad spring by King Charles IV's stag hunter [Klatovský]	3. Plzeň (Pilsen): a sturdy blacksmith, resting on his massive sledgehammer, a representative of the iron-rich Pilsen district [Čáslav].	4. Kouřim (Kaurzim): a gardener, with a heavily laden basket of fruit upon his head [Bydžov]	5. Bydžov (Bidschow): a sinewy inhabitant of the Giant Mountains, a cap of mist upon his wild head, a bearskin on his back, his arms resting on a huge club, one foot treading upon a rock from which the source of the Elbe trickles forth [Beroun].
6. Litoměřice (Leitmeritz): a young boatman, whose oar is entwined with the Czernosek vine, with attributes of industriousness and trade at his feet	7. Hradec Králové (Königgrätz): - once, under the aegis of George of Podiebrad, the stronghold of the last militant Hussites, and now home to Bohemia's main fortresses, Königgrätz and Josephstadt - is represented by a proud warrior in full Old Bohemian armour with a gleaming sword [Boleslav].	8. Boleslavský kraj (Bunzlauer Kreis): a cloth weaver [Hradec].	9. Čáslav (Tschaslau): A falconer personifies the district of Caslau, famous throughout Austria for its low-altitude falconry on the Auersberg estates [Prácheň]
10. Klatovy (Klattau): a glassblower.	11. Budějovice (Budweis): A pond hunter with a crossbow and fishing net represents the Budweis district, whose territory encompasses the numerous large fish ponds of the Duke of Krumau, Prince of Schwarzenberg	12. Prácheň (Prachens): which encompasses a large part of the Bohemian Forest, by a timber rafter [Kouřim].	13. Beroun: a miner [Loket].
14. Rakovnice: a reaper with a sickle and a sheaf	15. Tábor (Tabor): a wild-bearded, stocky day labourer, whose scythe is reminiscent of the dreaded Taborites of the 15th century, for whom it was a fearsome weapon. [Plzeň]	16. Chrudim (Crudim): the district which breeds the most horses is represented by a horseman in a Bohemian corded tunic, caressing a delicate foal	17. Žatec (Saaz): a hop grower; .

Artists

• Josef Ondřej Kranner, or Joseph Andreas Kranner (Praha 1801 - Wien 1871) was a Czech architect (Wikipedia).
  
• Joseph Calasanza Max (Bürgstein 1804 - Praha 1855), Czech sculptor, brother of Emanuel Max (Wikipedia).

Sources & Information

• Das Franzens-Monument auf dem Moldaukai zu Prag. Ausgeführt vom Bildhauer Joseph Max und Architekt Joseph Kranner. Illustrirte Zeitung 15 (1850), no. 366, 6 Juli 1850 (online, Google books).
• Rudolf Müller, Künstler der Neuzeit Böhmens, IV. Die Max-Familie, V. Joseph Max,.Mittheilungen des Vereins für Geschichte der Deutschen in Böhmen 15 (1877) 2, pp. 89-92 & 93-131. (online).
• Adam Hnojul, Josef Max a české sochařství 2. třetiny 19. století [Josef Max and Czech sculpture in the second third of the 19th century]. Bachelor thesis. Charles University, 2016, (online).
• Kateřina Drdáková, Ikonografie Historických Krajů v Českém Umění 17. – 19. Století [The Iconography of Historical Regions in Czech Art of the 17th–19th Centuries]. Bachelor thesis, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, 2018 (online).
• Wikipedia, Park Národního probuzení.

Tags

Location (N 50°4'58" - E 14°24'48") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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