Page:Czecho-Slovak Student Life, Volume 18.djvu/146
The Early Artists of Bohemia.
By Zdenek Fierlinger, Czechoslovak Minister to the United States.
N THE December issue of the S. L. Mr. Jackson Towne’s article [[../../Number 2/Czech Mural Paintings Show Real Art|on Czech Mural Painting]] aroused so much interest and comment that we decided to present to our readers another interesting article and a few illustrations of early Czech art. For this treat we thank the Hon. Zdenek Fierlinger and Art and Archaeology.―Editor’s Note.
Thanks to the effort of the Prague Society of Friends of Art, light has been thrown on an important chapter of the history of art which to even well-informed connoisseurs has been until quite recently only partly known, and that especially from some of the paintings existing in Germany which represent only fragmentarily the great Czech art of the fourteenth century. The work undertaken by enthusiasts such as Zd. Wirth, A. Matejcek, V. Kramar, the Director of the Prague National Museum, and others, has given results surprising even to those who are familiar with the great and productive period of Czech history extending from the reign of John of Luxembourg through the Hussite Wars up to George of Podebrady and Vladislas II. This period covered two centuries (1310—1516), during which Bohemia assumed political and cultural leadership in central Europe, and gave evidence of sturdy and undaunted spirit and vitality. This glorious epoch witnessed the foundation of the Charles University in 1348 and the construction of the Cathedral of Prague by Mathew d’Arras, who had been invited by King Charles to Bohemia from Avignon.
The indomitable spirit and religious fervor which characterized Bohemia at this time corresponds to the spontaneous outbursts of creative genius seeking self expression and greater achivements in the domain of art in much the same way that Francis of Assisi gave a new impulse to art in Italy. It must be admitted that this field in Bohemia had been already prepared by a long Romanesque tradition and by outside influences coming from all directions. It was thus ready to yield a rich harvest. There could have hardly been at that time any direct impulse coming from the East, from the decadent Byzantines, and it may be presumed that the early Bohemian leaned more or less towards the Burgundian school. However, the manifold inspirations emanating throughout centuries from the castern center of civilization were gradually reaching central Europe by the direct way of the Balkan peninsula as well as through Spain, France and Germany. Accordingly we find Byzantine Elements not only in the Czech primitive architecture but also in its early masters.
In this connection it is not without interest that in the ninth century (863) two monks, Cyril and Methodius, coming from the East, had brought the gospel and the alphabet to the Czechs. We can assume this might have affected the first literary attempts, the way of thinking and the sentiments of the Czech people preserving always a decidedly Slav tinge. The direct and more active influence