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Something is Missing

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pencil, charcoal

Drawn for the September Monthly Contest "Shadow Play" on Projekt ilustrace.

Depicted here is Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square) in Prague with the magnificent Church of Our Lady before Týn and many beautiful historical houses as you can see on any photos of this main square of Prague. But there is one odd thing with it, as you probably noticed. But to explain it, I have to delve a bit into history:
In 1648, as the Thirty Years' War was drawing to a close and peace negotiations were already taking place, Swedish army attacked Prague to get some spoils while they could. They conquered the left bank of Vltava River with Prague Castle and the Lesser Town, where they looted and stole many treasures. They tried to cross the river to capture the Old Town and New Town of Prague as well, but local citizens (especially students) successfully defended their city. The people of Prague attributed this victory to the intercession of Virgin Mary to whom they devoutly prayed on the Old Town Square. So to express their thanks, they erected a Marian Column on the Old Town square. It was consecrated in 1652 in the presence of emperor Ferdinand III. On the top of the column stood a statue of Our Lady by sculptor Jan Jiří Bendl (often called the first Baroque statue in Prague), and it became a beautiful and inherent part of the Old Town Square.

Now fast forward 250 years. In 1918 the World War I had just ended and the Czechoslovak state had been proclaimed in place of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. On 3 November a revolutionary mob came from a manifestation and prompted by an anarchist Franta Sauer, they decided to tear down the column, which they (quite inaccurately) saw as a symbol of the old regime and old defeats. So this Baroque masterpiece was destroyed and its place has been empty for 99 years now.

But that is not the end of the story. Ever since its destruction there has been efforts to restore it. While during the Nazi and Communist regime it was unthinkable, after 1989 a Society for the Restoration of the Marian Column on the Old Town Square was founded, and thanks to financial gifts from countless people, sculptor Petr Váňa started working on a copy of the column. Currently it is almost finished. There were also all necessary permissions from authorities, so it seemed that the column would be re-erected on the 100th anniversary of its destruction. Unfortunately, there are still some opponents who dislike the column (such as Communists and some Nationalists) and in September 2017 they managed to persuade the Municipal Assembly to withdraw its approval of the restoration. So currently the fate of the column is uncertain.

I was quite grieved when I heard about that decision, as I think the sculptor and the Society made a huge amount of good work and it would be great if this beautiful memorial returned back to its place in the centre of Prague. So as a personal reaction to that refusal by the assembly, I decided to draw this picture. I still hope it will return, eventually. It is missing there...
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Comments15
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Mortiscia's avatar
So interesting to find out more history about this beautiful place! :) I really hope all goes well and the column will be restored!