Bohuslav Bedřich Josef Schnirch (10 August 1845,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

– 30 September 1901, Prague) was a Czech sculptor, designer and

preservationist Preservationist is generally understood to mean ''historic preservationist'': one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects, or sites from demolition or degradation. Historic preservation us ...

Biography

His father was the builder and engineer, and his great-uncle, Bedřich Schnirch, designed railways and bridges. He studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

and architecture at the

Czech Technical University Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU, cs, České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ČVUT) is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Central Europe. I ...

, where he was a student of Josef Zítek. He continued his studies in Vienna with Professors Franz Bauer and

Franz Melnitzky Franz Melnitzky (13 November 1822, Krasíkov – 1 February 1876, Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor. Life and work His father was a stonemason, and he was originally trained for the same profession. After deciding to become a sculptor, he wen ...

, and in Munich with

Max von Widnmann Max von Widnmann (German nobility, ennobled as Maximilian Ritter von Widnmann; 16 October 1812 – 3 March 1895)Th-B, "Widnmann, Max von, sculptor", ''Dictionary of German Biography'', ed. Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus, with Dietrich von Eng ...

. During his stay in Italy, from 1871 to 1873, he was heavily influenced by Renaissance sculpture. After returning home, he was approached by Zítek to provide decorations for the new National Theatre, that was under construction. Schnirch created statues of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

and the Nine Muses for the columns above the main entrance. Some of his bronze figures, on the corner pylons, were destroyed during the fire that engulfed parts of the theatre shortly after its opening in 1881. He also provided decorations for the Rudolfinum; another building designed by Zítek. The

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...

design for the

National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

, by Josef Schulz, gave Schnirch an opportunity to compete in a contest, to select a sculptor for decorative work. He won the competition, over Antonín Pavel Wagner and Antonín Popp, and created four allegorical groups for the main dome, representing "Dedication", "Enthusiasm", "Love for the Truth" and "Love for the Past". He entered another competition in 1894, to design a monument for

St. Wenceslaus Wenceslaus I ( cs, Václav ; c. 907 – 28 September 935 or 929), Wenceslas I or ''Václav the Good'' was the Duke ('' kníže'') of Bohemia from 921 until his death, probably in 935. According to the legend, he was assassinated by his younger ...

but, despite very positive reviews for his entry, he was passed over in favor of Josef Václav Myslbek. His largest and most familiar work, an

equestrian monument An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...

George of Poděbrady George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad ( cs, Jiří z Poděbrad; german: Georg von Podiebrad), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the ...

, was completed in 1891, depicting the moment when George is reaching out to shake the hand of

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several m ...

. The figure is twice life size and constructed of copper plates. His final major commission involved figures for the on

Old Town Square Old Town Square ( cs, Staroměstské náměstí or colloquially ) is a historic square in the Old Town quarter of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is located between Wenceslas Square and Charles Bridge. Buildings The square ...

. One, a firefighter rescuing a victim, was the last work he completed before his death. The other, "A Call to Alarm", was completed by one of his students, Ladislav Šaloun. The in the Vinohrady district, has been declared a

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regist ...

. It was built in 1875, from a design by Antonín Wiehl, with friezes by Schnirch.

Selected works

Pomník krále Jiřího 1.jpg, Prazska mestska pojistovna 2.JPG, The Firefighter Vinohrady, Mikovcova 5, sgrafito 3.jpg, Section of the Frieze on the Schnirch House ND sochy 1.jpg, Apollo and the Muses Bohuslav Schnirch, Obětavost, Národní muzeum v Praze.jpg, "Dedication",
National Museum

Sources

Genealogy, timeline and photographs
@ Jiří Payne (blog)

by Jarmila Ličková, thesis,

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , under ...

, 1992
Biography
@ AbART

External links

* Wittlich, Petr
"Schnirch, Bohuslav."
In Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online, (accessed January 23, 2012; subscription required). {{DEFAULTSORT:Schnirch, Bohuslav Artists from Prague Czech male sculptors 1845 births 1901 deaths Czech architectural sculptors