The Return of the Legions - one-third scale model of the frieze designed for Legiobanka in Prague

The theme of the relief for the facade of the Czechoslovak Legions Bank in Na Poříčí Street in Prague, on whose composition Gutfreund worked in 1921-1922, is the legionnaires’ return to their families, work and day-to-day life. Gutfreund does not glorify their war victories; his concept of the legionnaires’ theme is non-heroic and civil. The allegory of the Motherland with open arms, which is placed in the centre, welcomes the returning soldiers; on its left, the allegoric figure of Peace takes a weapon out of the hands of a French legionnaire and, on the right, Work hands agricultural tools to a Russian legionnaire. The genre scenes depicted on both sides capture the legionnaires’ official welcome and reunion with their families, while scenes depicting mourning the dead can be seen on the relief’s edges.