4:30 p.m.– 6 p.m.

Lecture by Marek Zágora. Only in Czech.

The most important manuscript to have survived from the library of Wenceslas IV, King of Bohemia and of the Romans, is an unfinished copy of a German translation of the Bible. Known as the Wenceslas Bible, it is a truly monumental work. Its almost 2,500 pages feature 654 miniatures and initials, along with numerous other illustrations in drolleries and borders, created by at least nine illuminators. The manuscript was created in Prague specifically for Wenceslas IV in the 1380s and 1390s. When he was deposed from the Roman throne in 1400, work on the manuscript was halted, and it remained incomplete. It does not contain the whole of the Old Testament, and the New Testament is missing entirely. However, on some folios there are drawings, or several hundred notes written in Latin, which give an idea of what was intended to be depicted on that particular page. The original is now bound in six volumes and is the pride of the Austrian National Library in Vienna. The lecture will present the most famous Bible stories through the words and images of the manuscript.

The lecture will be streamed live on Facebooku and the gallery’s YouTube channel.

Advance booking is necessary.

free of charge