I yawned as I weaved my way through the road works on the motorway out of Prague. I was on my way to see the finest example of Bohemian Renaissance – Litomyšl Chateau in the Pardubice region, east of Prague.

Renaissance architecture started in Florence, Italy. It soon spread around Europe and Bohemia was no stranger to this. The word ‘Renaissance’ comes from the Italian ‘rinascita’ meaning ‘rebirth’. Ancient Rome inspired Florentine artists looking for a change from the Gothic style that was in vogue ¹.

Renaissance architecture emphasises symmetry, proportion and the geometry of a building. The bombastic Gothic architecture was slowly replaced by something more pleasing on the eye. Or so the artists thought. Art, like many other things, is in the eye of the beholder after all.

I had already been on the road for an hour and a half which is usually how long it takes to get to the Chateau from Prague. The road works and Sunday traffic delayed me. I flexed my stiff joints as I hurtled through the beautiful Czech countryside. I did consider stopping at one of the other historical sights signposted along the route. I didn’t want to because I chose Litomyšl (pronounced (Lee – toh – me – shill) as it is a little unusual as Renaissance buildings go.

Italian cities adopted the style with gusto but it took a longer to influence other countries. In some cases, like in Bohemia, this was because of ongoing wars. Once these stopped people wanted to build or rebuild their palaces and castles.

Bohemia is particular in Europe in that it never had the original classical heritage that cities like Rome did¹. Artists in Italy drew inspiration from existing places in the old Roman Empire which still stood. The Roman Empire never captured Bohemia so they never had this classical style of architecture¹. When people used Renaissance designs in this region, it wasn’t a rebirth for them; more of a late delivery, perhaps! ☺

It didn’t take much longer before I found myself breathing in the country air in front of the château. The Czechs keep it well-preserved, proud as they are of this UNESCO site². The Renaissance influence is immediately obvious. I couldn’t help smiling at the various images embedded in the facade’s sgraffito which is typical for Bohemia. These express biblical or mythological themes. At Litomyšl, each one is different, and even those which are similar have some small quirk to make them unique. The entire facade of the whole building is a rolling ribbon of mythological motifs which made me smile.

For those of you looking for allegorical imagery, I found a potential green man in a few of the images too. Read my article on green men and their influence on designs for more information.

At the time, some in Bohemia didn’t trust anything coming from ‘the papal states’, including this new style. It’s interesting how they felt an architectural style might be cause for concern. Catholics were the only people who wanted renaissance buildings in Bohemia. This means there’s a little trick to sound like you know your art history. Point at any building with sgraffito and say, ‘That’s a Renaissance building, owned by a Catholic at some point.’  ?

One delightful addition to a tour of the place is a quick peak at the cellars. The administration still stores and ages wine barrels in there and you can buy the wine at the gift shop. (I’ll have to see when to enjoy these two!) The cellars date back to the original building built in 1660 by Vratislav of Pernštejn³. He gave it to his wife Maria Manrique de Lara y Mendoza as a gift³. She is familiar to Praguers as the woman who brought a statue of the infant Jesus to Prague. This now resides in the Carmelite church known as the Church of the Infant Jesus⁴.

Later owners added some Baroque features. I suppose we should be thankful they didn’t ruin the original. We would have never known what we’d have lost.

Did Renaissance art include allegorical symbols in your country too? Leave a comment below to tell us about it!

1. Renaissance art; Encyclopaedia Britannica; (Retrieved 2018-09-22) [↩][↩][↩]
2. Litomyšl castle, UNESCO listings[↩]
3. About the Castle; Zamek Litomyšl; Retrieved 2018-04-13[↩][↩]
4. The History and Veneration of the Infant Jesus of Prague; Church of the Infant Jesus; (Retrieved 2018-09-22) [↩]