The magic of words - truth wins
The painting depicts the last sermon of Master Jan Hus in the Bethlehem Chapel in 1412. The chapel originally had four naves and a Gothic vault. It was named in honour of the children who were murdered on Herod's orders after Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. In Hus' time it was the only place in Prague where Czech was preached. The view of the chapel is painted from the altar steps. Master Jan Hus preaching to the people of Prague from all walks of life. Under the pulpit sit pupils listening and taking careful notes. Master John was not only a preacher but also the rector of Charles University. On the left, against the wall of the chapel, Jan Žižka of Trocnov, then a courtier of King Wenceslas IV and doorkeeper to Queen Žofia, stands next to a cloaked figure in white. In front of him in black sits Kříž, the crofter who donated part of the land for the construction of the chapel, and next to him in red is Hanus of Mülheim, who provided the building permit and the money to build the chapel.
Queen Žofie, whose confessor Jan Hus was and who often defended him to her husband, King Václav IV, is watching under the canopy on the right. Her lady-in-waiting takes the form of Mucha's wife Marie, née Chytilová. This figure is looking to the right, where there is a hooded figure in the corner behind the Romanesque font. He is a spy for the Catholic priests who wanted to be informed about the content of Hus' sermons. In them, Hus railed against the iniquities of the Church and the selling of indulgences as a form of penance.
In 1412, an interdict (ban on participation in devotions) was declared over Prague, which lasted until Master Jan Hus left the city.
The painting was made in 1916, when a tenement house still stood on the site of the Bethlehem Chapel. The effort to restore the chapel was the work of leading Czech historians and the Club for Old Prague. In 1948 the government decided to restore the Bethlehem Chapel. The restoration according to the project of prof. ing. architect Jaroslav Fragner was completed in 1954. Therefore, the interior of the chapel in the picture does not correspond to the current state.
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