St Wenceslas on Horseback (modello for the monument 1/10)

Modello for the monument 1/10.
The monument of St Wenceslas had had a place in the work of Václav Myslbek for a long time – the sculptor spent thirty-five years on it before he finally produced a masterpiece of monumental realism. The artist became interested in the design for this equestrian statue as early as 1887. Over the years the appearance of the statue changed as Myslbek tried to give the true shape to his idea. In this he was inspired by Italian Renaissance (Donatello, Brunelleschi) as well as by the work of prominent Czech painters of the 19th century (Mánes, Aleš). In 1894 a competition was announced for St Wenceslas monument and Myslbek became its winner. Until then he was thinking of only a single figure – St Wenceslas on horseback – but in the next year he changed the design to include reliefs and later the figures of the land patron saints of Bohemia, to be placed on the sides of the high sockle. In the final version, in Wenceslas Square in Prague, the prince is accompanied by four saints: St Ludmila, St Agnes of Bohemia, St Procopius, and St Adalbert. The last of the statues was set only after the artist’s death.