Oldřich and Božena

The meeting of the beautiful peasant girl Božena, Křesina’s daughter, and of prince Oldřich near the former village Opučná, was a popular subject in Czech art, literature and theatre from the 18th century until the generation of the National Theatre. According to literary sources one of the reasons for this popularity was the interpretation of their subsequent marriage in the medieval Dalimil’s Chronicle, i.e. that the prince preferred a simple Czech village girl to a German princess. Ženíšek’s painting was commissioned by Josef Šebastian Daubek. As soon as it was finished, the painting was exhibited at the Lehmann Salon in Prague and then a year later in Vienna. Very soon it became one of Ženíšek’s most popular pictures.