Design for the Diploma of the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts

The final phase of Tkadlík’s artistic output was affected by physical hardship caused by the advancing tuberculosis. Tkadlík therefore focused more on drawing and prints, which is evidenced, above all, by two excellent pen and ink designs of diplomas. After the diploma for the Society of Friends of Church music in Bohemia he created diploma for the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts, conceived as a graphic frame with medallions with the most famous artists and patrons, with a scene depicting the process of artistic instruction under the supervision of pedagogues. The whole composition is dominated by the motif of the Origin of Humankind, fully corresponding with Tkadlik’s idea of the divine origin of art.