Calvary, Charles Bridge
Calvary (Czech: Sousoší Kalvárie) is an outdoor sculpture, installed on the third pillar of the north side of the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/View_of_the_City_of_Prague_MET_64FF_PRAGAr1.jpg/220px-View_of_the_City_of_Prague_MET_64FF_PRAGAr1.jpg)
The first cross was standing on the Charles bridge since the 14th century, documented by chronicles of the Roman emperor Charles IV and in 1606 by Aegidius Sadeler's Prospect od Prague.
The main statue of the Jesus on the cross was cast in bronze by Hans Hillger in Dresden after the model made by sculptor Wolf Ernst Brohn in 1628, in an early baroque style. The statue was set on the Charles bridge only in 1657.
Calvary hill was made of stone by the sculptor Johann Georg Heermann in 1707.
Both side statues of Virgin Mary and Saint John were added by Emanuel Max in 1861.[1]
The sculpture features a crucifix surrounded by the Hebrew words קדוש קדוש קדוש יהוה צבאות ("kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai Tzva’ot" ; English: holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts) from the Kedushah prayer. In 1696, a Jewish communal leader named Elias Backoffen was forced to pay for the inscription after being accused of blasphemy. The aleph in the word "Tzva’ot" is backwards, as the letter was removed by the Nazis during the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and later mistakenly placed after the war. The vav in the word "Adonai" has gone missing. In 2009, explanatory plaques were added in English, Czech and Hebrew after the Mayor of Prague was petitioned by a group of North American rabbis.[2]
References
External links
Media related to Calvary on Charles Bridge at Wikimedia Commons
- v
- t
- e
- Babies
- Bust of Václav Štulc
- Ctirad and Šárka
- František Palacký Monument
- Head of Franz Kafka
- Holy Trinity Column
- Jan Hus Memorial
- Josef Dobrovský Monument
- Kohl's Fountain
- Kranner's Fountain
- Libuše and Přemysl
- Lumír and Píseň
- Marian Column Old Town Square
- Memorial to the Victims of Communism
- Obelisk
- Piss
- Polibek
- Réva
- Slavín
- Stalin Monument
- Statue of Alois Jirásek
- Statue of Bedřich Smetana
- Statue of Charles IV
- Statue of Franz Kafka
- Statue of Jan Neruda
- Statue of Jaroslav Hašek
- Statue of John of Nepomuk
- Statue of John the Baptist
- Statue of Josef Jungmann
- Statue of Judah Loew ben Bezalel
- Statue of Karel Havlíček Borovský
- Statue of Milan Rastislav Štefánik
- Statue of Saint George
- Statue of Saint Joseph
- Statue of Saint Procopius
- Statue of Saint Sebastian
- Statue of Saint Wenceslas (Bendl)
- Statue of Saint Wenceslas (Vosmík)
- Statue of Saint Wenceslas, Wenceslas Square
- Statue of Taras Shevchenko
- Statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
- Trigae
- Vítězslav Hálek Memorial
- Wimmer's Fountain
- Winged Lion Memorial
- Woodrow Wilson Monument
- Wrestling Titans
- Youth
- Záboj and Slavoj
- Znovuzrození
![]() | This article about a sculpture in the Czech Republic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e