Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

The Art Nouveau bronze monument depicts Jan Hus standing on a smouldering pyre in the centre of a group of figures; these symbolise both the Hussites (the figures closer to Týn Church) and the post-White Mountain exiles (the figures closer to the execution site of 1621). Hus’s gaze is directed towards Týn Church, which was the centre of the Utraquists in the 15th century; a group of six Hussite warriors is also situated on this side. In contrast, the subjugated exiles are positioned closer to the site of the execution of the 27 lords in 1621 following the Estates’ Revolt.
The entire sculptural group is set upon a wide granite plinth of approximately elliptical shape.
The work was unveiled to mark the 500th anniversary of Hus’s burning at the stake.

Front: milujte se, pravdy každému prejte Love each other, wish truth upon everyone (quote from Hus' work)
	Right: ktož jsú boží bojovníci a zákona jeho Who are the God's fighters and of his law (the first lines of a Hussite song)
Left: verím že vláda vecí Tvých k Tobe se zase | navrátí, ó lide ceský! I believe that after storms of anger are gone the rule of your things will come back to you again, oh people of Bohemia (quote from the work of Comenius; inscription added only during the era of independent Czechoslovakia in 1926).
Back: živ bud, národe posvecený v Bohu, neumírej Stay alive, nation consecrated to God, don't die (quote from the work of Comenius)