Aquamaniles in the Collections of the Silesian Museum
Denisa Hradilová
The study deals with two pieces of aquamaniles, one in a form of a horse and the other in a form of a woman head, which came to the collection of the fine arts of the Silesian Museum in Opava as gifts from Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein. The first aquamanile in the Gothic style was purchased by the Prince from the Charles Stein Collection in 1899. The second aquamanile in the Romanesque-style features, was purchased from A. Satori in Vienna by the Prince in 1909.
Archaeological Findings from the Area of Opava Castle I.
Soňa Králová
Archaeological situations and a large number of movable archaeological finds dating from before the establishment of the institutional city to the present were discovered as part of rescue archaeological research during the reconstruction of the so-called Müller House in Opava in the period from 2015 to 2019. The presented contribution concerns probing in the exterior of the building, in the places of the recessed extension in the garden and around the house, which was part of the premises of the Přemyslid Castle, later rebuilt into the Liechtenstein Château. The work presents a preliminary evaluation of the research, including the results of some relevant analyses, and responds to the initial assumptions formulated on the basis of written and iconographic sources. The largest share of artefacts is represented by medieval and modern ceramics, then zooarchaeological material, metal finds, paleobotanical specimens, etc. The paper reflects the socio-economic situation of the place within the background of the aristocratic residence, whose archaeological research, when reconstructing the former kitchen of the medieval castle, has been one of the largest and most important archaeological excavations in recent years in Opava.
The settlement of Horní Údolí, today a part of Zlaté Hory, is located in a place that has been the subject of mining activity since ancient times. The local gold deposits were influenced by the early relations between the Czech and Polish states and later by the position of the Duchy of Wrocław, whose representative the Bishop of Wrocław was. The aim of the work is to present the importance and influence of mining activities on the origin and development of sacral monuments in the village. Most attention is paid to the defunct and currently restored Chapel of St. Anna or the neo-Gothic church of St. John the Baptist. The research itself focused on the collection of archival sources, available literature and their critical evaluation and interpretation.
Wall Paintings in the Chapel of the Thurn Palace of Lipnice Castle
Pavel Waisser
The study presents relatively recently discovered renaissance wall paintings (2011) and until now not presented on the Art history field of research in the so-called second chapel adjacent to the Gothic hall of the so-called Thurnovský Palace of Lipnice Castle. The related architectural context of this entire block of the north-western wing of Lipnice Castle and other clues allow perhaps to date the paintings to the 1520s-30s. The colouring and workmanner with space corresponds to the style of the so-called Danube School. The paintings form a coherent set in terms of meaning and represent an iconographically unique Christological-eschatological cycle from the Protestant milieu (the commissioner was either Burian II. Trčka of Lípa or his son Jan st. Trčka of Lípa). The Crucifixion/Christ‘s sacrifice correlates with the threefold revelation of Christ in his divinity in different temporal planes: the Resurrection of Christ, the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Last Judgement. The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor in Lipnice is the oldest known example of this iconography in the medium of mural painting in the Czech lands. The commissioning possibilities of the rich Lipnice branch of the Trčka of Lípa family are also proved by other monuments that are hypothetically or evidently related to the patronage of Burian II. Trčka of Lípa (a supposed double portrait of Burian II. Trčka of Lípa and Catherien of Lichtenburg – originally the state castle Žleby, around 1516; illumination of the Něměcký Brod gradual (painter Pavel Mělnický; probably 1516).
Contribution to Construction History of Jablunkov from the End of 18th Century to the Beginning of 20th Century
Eva Vojkovská
The study deals with construction events in Jablunkov from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, demonstrated on selected examples of buildings. It captures the urban development of the town and characterizes the layout of the houses. The study describes the original attic wooden houses of the Carpathian type and the brick buildings in the square. It then explains the work of builders and describes their buildings in the town. The architecture of Jablunkov created an interesting complex of wooden folk architecture as well as urban brick architecture.
Contacts of Brno Architect František Kalivoda with Austrian Artist Raoul Hausmann during his Exile in Czechoslovakia in the Period from 1937 to 1938
Markéta Svobodová
In the legacy of the Brno architect František Kalivoda (1913–1971), which is stored in the Department of the History of Architecture of the Brno City Museum, there is his relatively extensive international correspondence including letters from the Austrian expressionist and „dadasophist“ Raoul Hausmann (1886, Vienna, Austria-Hungary, to 1971, Limoges, France). The correspondence relates to his years of exile (1937–1938), when, after the Nazis condemned his work at the Munich exhibition Entartete Kunst (1937) and after his longer stay in Spain, from which he had to flee for political reasons, he moved to Prague via Switzerland. He came to František Kalivoda and Brno through the architect‘s long-time friend László Moholy-Nagy (1895–1946). After 1933, when streams of immigrants from all over Europe came to Czechoslovakia, Kalivoda tried to help these refugees, and archival documents show that he did not stop this activity even during the occupation.
Hausmann had Czechoslovak citizenship – he resided in the village of Stehelčeves near Kladno, so residence certificates related to his stay in the Czechoslovak Republic have been preserved. The first record is from February 2, 1937, residence in Prague‘s Vinohrady, Italská Street 12. In the column of the profession he stated: a writer. However, he did not speak Czech, he felt European and was closely associated with German or German-Jewish culture. In the Czechoslovak Republic, he met both artists from these communities or fellow emigrants (Augustin Tchinkel, Andre Steiner, Hannes Beckmann, etc.) and the Czech avant-garde. However, in letters to his first wife, Elfriede Hausmann, he often complained about „small and limited“ circumstances in Czechoslovakia. Hausmann‘s letters to Kalivoda are very expressive, sometimes even effusive, reflecting the depressing hopeless situation in which refugees often found themselves. The letters show an effort to apply and enforce his previous experience and various projects, from which the frequent (sometimes paranoid) accusations of his colleagues and co-workers of stealing or plagiarizing his own ideas and thoughts stem. Hausmann left Czechoslovakia in June 1938 before the Munich Agreement (he belonged to anti-fascists and anti-Nazis, his second wife Hedvika was of Jewish origin). He first travelled back to Switzerland, and, after three days, he moved to Paris.
Obraz svatého Josefa Pěstouna od Josefa Františka Pilze (Romana Balcarová – Pavel Šopák)
Palác svobodných pánů z Berečka v Opavě (Pavel Šopák)
Několik poznámek k užití, limitům a možnostem některých nedestruktivních archeologických metod při výzkumu, studiu a poznání změn v krajině Českého Slezska (Jiří Juchelka)