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Tomb of a known soldier. De-anonymization of war memorials and mass graves as a modernization process
Kessler, Vojtěch ; Michlová, M. ; Šrámek, J.
This article focuses on perceiving the anonymity of fallen soldiers in the mid-19th century war memorials in Bohemia. The researchers working in Central Europe can draw surprisingly different conclusions than Anglo-American works. This article compensates for this lack of research. The anonymity of war memorials in the Czech lands almost disappeared during the first half of the 19th century. We are looking for an explanation in the four main changes that took place at that time. Firstly, fundamental changes in society, secondly, evolving aesthetics reflected in war memorials, thirdly, a difference in the way of waging war, and finally, changings emotions towards the fallen, the homeland and family.
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The Earliest Graves in Saint Vitus Cathedral and Their Dating Issue
Vrána, David
During the years 1995–2018, inspection research was carried out for graves K1 and K2 discovered under the Saint Wenceslas Chapel floor in Saint Vitus Cathedral, on the site of the former rotunda with the same consecration. The results of radiocarbon dating of the human remains and the wooden structure, as well as other findings, indicate an origin in the 9th century, however, putative stratigraphic problems obstruct the acceptation of these results. A belief prevails that the graves were dug only after the rotunda’s erection, or rather after the building of the alleged later annex for the south apse that contains the grave of Saint Wenceslas. This opinion is based on the finding of masonry inside the apse that was detected under the later Gothic altar and that was interpreted as the remains of the demolished foundation of the rotunda nave. Based on the latest evaluation, it seems more likely that the relics under the Gothic altar are connected with the earliest stage of the altar and the foundation altar step (gradus altaris). Covering the dead in grave K1 with lime or mortar was also identified as a stratigraphic issue, nevertheless, it must have been done after the deceased was placed in the grave. Similarly, the findings of marlstone and mortar fragments in the corner of grave K1 during the archaeological inspection in 1995 provide no evidence that the grave was dug only after the erection of the rotunda because it is most likely only secondary contamination. The identification of the deceased persons remains uncertain, but morphology features and the blood group of the man in grave K1 suggest his affiliation with the House of Přemyslid. Based on current findings, the hypothesis of E. Vlček about the identification of the dead from grave K1 with Prince Bořivoj I (†890) cannot be ruled out, yet the buried woman in the neighbouring grave K2 indicates the need to search for another explication that only a new successfully conducted DNA analysis would confirm.
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The Lost Epitaph and Tombstone of Václav Hájek of Libočany
Mezihoráková, Klára
Beginning in the 17th century, the numerous authors of documents about Prague referred to the grave of Václav Hájek of Libočany (the Catholic priest and author of the famous Czech Chronicle, † 1553) with a tombstone and epitaph being located in the Church of Saint Anne at the Convent of Dominican Nuns in the Old Town in Prague. Despite this fact, both monuments disappeared without a trace during the 19th century. While the only information about the tombstone is that it was made of ‘yellow marble’ the descriptions of the epitaph have survived as well as two depictions from the later editions of the Czech Chronicle from 1718 and 1761. In spite of the incomplete documentation, the epitaph presents the best-identified part of the furnishings of the Convent of Saint Anne in Prague. This article points to the surprising fact, that these monuments were not lost in auctions after the cancellation of the monastery in 1782, as one would have expected, but probably nearly a hundred years later.
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Stone Statue of the Madonna with an Inscription – A Challenge Not Only for Epigraphers
Benešovská, Klára
Stone Statue of the Madonna with an Inscription – A Challenge Not Only for Epigraphers. The fragment of the stone Madonna with the Czech inscription „omylostywa” (Oh, Graceful), discovered in the town of Sázava and deposited in the local castle collections (originally a Benedictine monastery), was originally an enthroned Madonna connected to architecture. The drapery composition of the torzo and the inscription letter types enable one to date the statue from about 1400. The question arises of its placement: either in the accessible areas of the monastery or on a house or in a niche (chapel) located along the path leading to the monastery where it was always visible to the faithful who could pray there and venerate it. Furthermore, the hypothesis that indulgences would relate to the Madonna statue cannot be excluded.
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Tombstones and Epitaphs of Italians in the Czech Lands during 1500-1620
Chlíbec, Jan
Thus far, no attention with respect to nationality has been paid to tombstones and epitaphs of Italians who lived in the Czech lands during the Renaissance era and who were subsequently buried there. Nevertheless, it is an interesting segment of this specific type of sculpture, although rather from the perspective of cultural history and epigraphy than from the art history. The commissioners of these works largely adapted their taste to the established types of sepulchral monuments and epithaphs north of Alps. The convolute of these works is rather limited, thus far comprising of 11 works and only 4 of them are figural. Yet, sober inscription plates , decorated only with the coat of arms of the deceased person, prevail in the majority of sepulchral works of the researched convolute.Their austere artistic form can be explained by the influence of the Council of Trent´s ideology. The Prague synod in 1605 continued the refusal of pompous tombstones and had an unfavourable impact on the development of sepulchral sculpture.
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Medieval Sepulchral Monuments of the Calced Augustinians in Domažlice through the Eyes of Baroque Monastic Historiographers
Hrdinová, Martina
In the monastic archive of the Provincial Office of the Calced Augustinians in Prague, the manuscript Liber benefactorum Ecclesiae (National Archive, fonds Calced Augustinians, Prague, no. 97) from 1680–1735 revealed a list of sepulchral relics in the monastic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Domažlice from 1708. The list was made by the Augustinian historiographer Valentin Weidner (1658–1736) and it includes descriptions and illustrations for 13 monuments of which three date from the Middle Ages – the headstones of Jan of Rožmitál (†1480), Racek Rýzmberský of Janovice (†1461), and an unknown man (15th–16th century). These newly discovered Baroque texts facilitate the reconstruction of inscriptions and the appearance of sepulchral monuments whose fragments were re-discovered in the 1980s. The paper further focuses on the methods of monastic chroniclers used for epigraphy and heraldry sources and also on the reasons behind their interest in this type of monument.
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