Image Two: The Feast of Svantovít on Rügen. The second image of the epic, which is overflowing with many motifs, has always struck me personally as a scene full of contrasts. From celebration to the fury of a pack of wolves, where ordinary life is at a point between the end and the beginning of something new, even if the perpetual restlessness and fear of the near unknown is hinted at. No longer able to make a living in their overpopulated homeland, the Slavic tribes set out to find a new homeland. This is a period of great change known as the Migration of Nations.
As early as the 7th century, some Slavs settled along the coast of the Baltic Sea, which was then called the Slavic Sea. The Celtic and Germanic remnants in this area were sent to Slavonia. Where the Oder flows into the Baltic Sea is a large island with many lakes - Rügen. Here the Slavic tribe of the Rana lived for centuries. At the northernmost tip of the island, protected by defensive ramparts and steep chalk cliffs, was the capital of Arkona and the temple of the god Svantovít.
The painting depicts the autumn festivities of Svantovít. The priests thanked this god for the rich harvest and prophesied things to come. Arkona was to the Slavs what Delphi once was to the ancient world. To the right, a procession led by a high priest exits the temple. Ahead of him, he carries a bull, a symbol of the power that will be sacrificed. On a sunny afternoon, people are rejoicing, singing and dancing, only the mother with her child on her lap - in the lower centre of the painting - is sombre, perhaps anticipating how bleak the future of the tribe of the Ranas will be.
During the Crusades of 1168 against the Baltic Slavs, the Danes, led by Valdemar of Denmark, managed to conquer Arkona, demolish the temple and burn the statue of Svantovít. This event is symbolically depicted in the upper part of the painting. On the left is the Germanic god of war Wödan with his shield, accompanied by a pack of sacred wolves. In the middle, the last Slavic warrior dies on a sacred white horse. Wrapped in lime leaves, Svantovít takes the sword from his hand to fight for his people alone. The group of chained persons symbolizes the Slavic peoples conquered by the Germans. The figures of the bards remind us that we only know about the Baltic Slavs from chronicles, myths and legends.
Below right, a young carver, inspired by his muse, creates a new idol to replace the destroyed statue of the god Svantovít. The darker colour tone makes the mother and son pair stand out plastically from the two-dimensional setting. This pair symbolizes the twilight and eventual demise of the Baltic Slavs. The treasure-filled temple at the center of the celebration was a sacred site that was the destination of pilgrims in the eighth to tenth centuries AD. In Mucha's time, the conquered and destroyed Arkona had an almost mythical significance, for it symbolized proof of the original Slavic glory, and Svantovít became its symbol.
Mucha deliberately focused not on the temple, but on the celebrating pilgrims in white in the lower third of the canvas. They seem oblivious to the gods above them, who are battling an incoming enemy led by a pack of wolves. The ominous sky contrasts with the sun-drenched scene below. A young mother holding her child in her arms watches the viewer with anguish in her eyes, as if she alone is aware of the inevitability of the city's demise. The importance of artistic endeavour as a response to war is emphasised by the three musicians at the centre of the composition, as well as the figure of the carver.
Read also: Slavic Epic by Alfons Mucha - painting First: Slavs in the Motherland - Between the Turanian Knuta and the Gothic Sword - the Birth of Slavs from Swamps and Blood
Jan Vojtěch, Editor-in-chief, General News
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