National Gallery in Prague

Virtual Tour of the National Gallery in Prague

Madonna of Zbraslav
Votive Panel of Jan Očko of Vlašim
“Green Wheat Field with Cypress” by Vincent van Gogh
“The Maiden” by Gustav Klimt
“Feast of the Rosary” by Albrecht Dürer
“Jas de Bouffan house and farm” by Paul Cézanne

Highlights Tour of the National Gallery in Prague

Madonna of Zbraslav

The Madonna of Zbraslav comes from the parish church of St James the Greater in Zbraslav, a municipal district of Prague. This painting is in the tradition of earlier Italian-Byzantine examples of the Madonna and Christ art.

However, this composition presents a more human and intimate relationship between the mother and child. In previous Byzantine traditions, the mother offers the child as an object of worship.

The Madonna has a white head covering and a bright blue cloak with green lining decorated with gold stars. The Madonna’s cloak and veil and the sheer shirt of the child are embellished along their hems with gold embroidery.

The gilded gold background is decorated with curly vines and leaves. The stones and pearls on the crown, halos, hems, and clasp are mounted over the paint.

Votive Panel of Jan Očko of Vlašim

The Votive Panel of Jan Očko of Vlašim is a Gothic panel painting made in medieval Bohemia. The panel was painted for the Prague archbishop Jan Očko of Vlašim who is depicted kneeling before St. Adalbert of Prague in the lower part of the picture.

The panel was initially placed in the chapel of Roudnice Castle, which belonged to the bishops and archbishops of Prague. The chapel was consecrated in 1371, and this is the probable date of this picture.

The painting is divided into two parts. In the upper part is the Virgin sitting on a throne with the infant Jesus.

They are adored by kneeling Emperor Charles IV and his son King Wenceslaus IV. St. Sigismund of Burgundy stands behind Charles IV, while St. Wenceslaus of Bohemia stands behind the young king as his patron.

“Green Wheat Field with Cypress” by Vincent van Gogh

“Green Wheat Field with Cypress” by Vincent van Gogh was completed in 1889, while van Gogh was voluntarily incarcerated at the asylum of St. Paul near Saint-Rémy in Provence, France.

Van Gogh created several paintings of wheat fields with cypresses when he was able to leave the asylum and explore the landscape.

This painting manifests the psychological tension that can be found in some of his other pictures during this period.

Van Gogh was fond of painting cypresses and wheat fields, and he depicted them many times over the years. They symbolized the cycle of life and death, and he found them inspiring and comforting.

“The Maiden” by Gustav Klimt

“The Maiden” by Gustav Klimt depicts the dreamy sensuality of a young girl in a dream state.

The central sleeping girl is fantasizing about future possibilities for her self in a dream represented by the patchwork quilt of women surrounding her.

Klimt has created a cloud-like shaped constellation of women with colorful patterned scarves and gowns sprinkled with flower garlands.

The Maiden’s long dress is covered with spirals symbolizing fertility and the ever-changing and evolving universe. Klimt’s eclectic influences included Classical Greek, Byzantine mosaics, and Medieval styles.

Klimt emerged from an impoverished childhood to become an artist who significantly influenced the Viennese Secession and Art Nouveau movement.

“Feast of the Rosary” by Albrecht Dürer

“Feast of the Rosary” by Albrecht Dürer shows the Virgin Enthroned holding the Child. Above her head are two flying angels holding an elaborate royal crown made of gold, pearls, and gems.

The throne’s backrest is covered with a green drape and by a ceremonial fabric over the throne, which is held by two flying cherubs. At the Virgin’s feet is an angel playing the lute.

Mary is in the act of distributing rose garlands to kneeling worshippers, lined up in rows at the sides. This composition motif was a Flemish scheme that had become widespread in Germany at the time.

On the left of the throne, is Pope Julius II. He is being crowned by the Child and is being followed by a procession of religious figures.

“Jas de Bouffan house and farm” by Paul Cézanne

“Jas de Bouffan house and farm” by Paul Cézanne depicts an 18th-century homestead in Aix-en-Provence, where the artist spent much of his life. The color of the painting is applied in a transparent layer.

Provençal manor such as these was called a “bastide” and was built about 1750. Bastide is the local term for a manor house in Provence, in the south of France, located in the countryside or a village, and initially occupied by a wealthy farmer.

A bastide was more extensive and more elegant than a farmhouse and was square or rectangular, with a tile roof. The walls were constructed of fine ashlar-stone sometimes covered with stucco or whitewashed, and often built in a square around a courtyard.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many of these “besides” were used as summer houses by wealthy citizens of Marseille and Paris. The bastide was surrounded by a private garden with ponds, fountains, and sculptures.