The Lapidarium is a

lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas reliefs, tombston ...

and a part of the National Museum in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is the largest permanent exhibition of historical collections of stone sculpture, tombs and architectonical fragments originating from Bohemia, mostly from Prague.

History

In 1839,

František Palacký František Palacký (; June 17, 1798 – May 26, 1876) was a Czech historian and politician, the most influential person of the Czech National Revival, called "Father of the Nation". Life František Palacký was born on June 17, 1798 at Hodslavi ...

, an early supporter of the National Museum, advocated for collecting stone monuments and artifacts. In 1898, the precursor to the Lapidarium, the Exhibition of Monuments of Old Architecture and Exhibition of Architecture and Engineering, was held at the

Výstaviště Praha Výstaviště in Prague is an exhibition ground which is used for exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events, founded in 1891. It is located in Bubeneč near the metro station on Metro line C Nádraží Holešovice. In the immediate area ...

. The exhibition's building was designed by architect

Antonín Wiehl Antonín Wiehl (26 April 1846, Plasy – 4 November 1910, Prague) was a Czech architect, museum official, and patron of the arts. He helped create the first system of historic preservation in Bohemia. Biography His father was an Austrian forest ...

for the 1891 world's fair held in Prague and continues to house the museum today. The first permanent exhibition in the Lapidarium was held in 1905. The museum closed from 1914 to 1932 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The museum again closed from 1939 to 1954 because of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The museum closed from 1967 to 1993 for renovations. The Lapidarium houses valuable stone sculptures dating from the 11th to the early 20th century. The museum has a collection of around 2,000 artefacts, 400 of which are on permanent display in eight halls of approximative area of 1,300 square meters.

Collections

Romanic and the early Gothic period

The oldest Romanic fragments from the crypt of St. Vitus basilica are dated to the late 11th century. Romanic stove tiles decorated with reliefs of lion, gryphon, sphinx or emperor Nero come from basilika on Prague-Vyšehrad. Eight tombstones with engraved figures of abbots as well as various architectural fragments of 11th to 13th century originate from the Benedictine abbey Ostrov (Insula), founded in 999 on the river Vltava near Prague and destroyed in 15th century; nearly 900 fragments were gained from the archaeological excavations in 1932.

High and Late Gothic period

Six original gothic statues from the Charles Bridge Tower (Emperor Charles IV, his son King Wenceslas IV, patron saints Vitus, Adalbert of Prague, Sigismundus and a lion can be seen here among others.

Renaissance

The Krocin's water fountain cut of rose marble comes from Old Town Square. It was moved to the museum between 1911-1914. Several tombstones come from destroyed Prague cemeteries.

Hall of the Virgin Mary Pest Column

Fragments of Virgin Mary Immaculata among four archangels fighting with dragons, five statues of sandstone made by

Johann Georg Bendl Johann-Georg Bendl () or Jan Jiří Bendl () (before 1620 in architecture, 1620 - Prague, 27 May 1680 in architecture, 1680) was a Baroque sculptor, who worked mainly in Prague. He was the son of the Bohemian sculptor Georg Bendl (born ca. 1570, ...

for the Old Town Square in Prague in 1650 after the idea of Emperor Ferdinand III (''Maria Victoria'') and destroyed by anarchists in 1918.

Hall of the Charles Bridge

Seven original baroque groups of statues include the largest monuments: ''Ecstase of sainte Ludgardis'', made by Matthias Bernard Braun, ''St Francis Xaverius baptising Indians'' and ''The Apotheose of St Ignatius of Loyola'' by Ferdinand Maxmilian Brokoff, which fell into the river in 1890 and was never recovered.

Hall of the Bohemian high Baroque style

It houses the first statue of the Bohemian patron saint Wenceslas, made by Johann Georg Bendl in 1680 for the Horse Market (later Wenceslas Square). Another St Wenceslas statue shows the saint picking wine grapes for Holy mass. Six statues of saints comes from the facade of St Gallus Church. Two statues were made for Loretto Church in Prague - Hradčany.

Hall of the Rococo style and Historicism

Rococo is represented before all by a set of allegorical statues from the garden of a summer palace America projected by Kilian Ignac Dienzenhofer. Statues made by Ignac Platzer originate from the

Palais Kinsky Palais Kinsky is a Baroque palace in central Vienna, Austria. It was originally built for Count Wirich Philipp von Daun, the garrison commander whose son Leopold became a Field Marshal of Empress Maria Theresa. The palace was later bought by the ...

in Prague.

Hall of Habsburg' Emperors

Monuments of the Austrian emperors: Equestrian statue of Francis I and standing figure of

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

were cast from brass for public spaces, as well as the monument of Field Marshal Joseph V. Radetzky von Radeč. Many of these monuments came to the Lapidarium after the World War I when reminders of the old Austro-Hungarian monarchy were removed from public space by the new republican authorities. Busts of

and his wife, Elisabeth (called ''Sisi'') of white marble sculpted by

Antonín Pavel Wagner Antonín Pavel Wagner (3 July 1834, Dvůr Králové nad Labem – 27 January 1895, Vienna) was a Czech sculptor who spent most of his career in Vienna. Life and work His family was involved in the textile industry. After completing secondary sc ...

in 1891 were moved after the general reconstruction back to the Pantheon of the National Museum (opened in September 2019).

Awards

In 1995, the Lapidarium was named one of the ten most beautiful museum exhibitions in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

.The Lapidarium - Even stone has its language , Prague.net
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References

nowiki/> {{Authority control Museums in Prague Collections of the National Museum in Prague Sculptures in Prague Outdoor sculptures in Prague Baroque sculptures Gothic sculptures