Origins and Spread of Romanesque & Gothic Style in France, Germany & Northern Europe. 9

Medieval Painting at the Court of Prague in Bohemia.

“Charles IV, Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, founded the new Prague Church, an expensive work, as is apparent, and at this expense, his own, did this;. . . a university in Prague was instituted by him, and the building of a new bridge across the Vltava was ordered by him. Excellent lover of Divine Worship and of the clergy, he died in Prague in the year of Our Lord 1378. —Inscription at Saint Vitus's Cathedral.”

In a usual survey of European painting of this period, we would be turning away from Germany and heading southwards to continue the story of art on the continent. We shall do that next week in the renaissance section, but for now by way of a departure from the usual route, we shall head north into Bohemia- which went on to be called Czechoslovakia- and thence to Norway in order to show how Gothic painting from France and the Mediterranean spread into eastern and northern Europe. Most of the 14^th century painting that has survived in Moravia is in the form of book illustration and murals; the latter due to the fortunate circumstance that the ruling families were bibliophiles.¹ One of the most famous books is the Abbess of Kunigunde’s Illuminated Passional. Kunigunde was leader of a Benedictine establishment in Prague; she commissioned an Illuminated Passional which contain “mystic tracts” written for the abbess by a Dominican monk, Kolda of Koldice with accompanying verses and illustrations by Canon Beneš of St George’s. These show “a synthesis of Western Gothic art with contemporary influences from from the Byzantine style of northern Italian art.”² Prague owed its early eminence to the energy and fervour of the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, Charles IV (1316-1378). Czechs considered Charles the founder of their empire, but the Germans thought of him as the “stepfather” of the Holy Roman Empire.³ Steeped in the luxuriance of the French court, knowledgeable about Byzantine painting, Charles wanted to use art and buildings like St Vitus Cathedral to create a city that could compete with Paris. To this end Charles attracted German painters like “Master Wilhelm” from Cologne to complement quietly forceful artists like the court painter Master Theodoric who is first documented as owning a house next to Prague Castle in 1359. Theodoric virtually oversaw the decoration of the Holy Cross Chapel at Karlŝtejn Castle which produced some memorable paintings of 130 saints and evangelists, and Charlemagne. The assertive St Luke (above) panel is thought by some to be a self-portrait; Charles IV was well-pleased with the work proclaiming it “ingeniously and masterfully done.”⁴

1Karel Stejskal, “Historical and Social Background to the Mural Painting of 1300-1350” in Various, Gothic Mural Painting in Bohemia and Moravia 1300-1378 (London & New York, 1964), 17.

2Ibid.

3Jiři Fajt, “Charles IV: Towards a New Imperial Style” in Prague: The Crown of Bohemia 1347-1437 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2005-2006), 3-23,

4Ibid, no. 33.