Noon, study for a painting to decorate the dining room of Bohumil Bondy

In 1888, Vojtěch Bartoněk received a commission to decorate the dining room in the flat of Bohumil Bondy, an entrepreneur and chairman of the Prague Chamber of Commerce in Černá růže Palace in Prague’s New Town which was reconstructed by the architect Josef Fanta from 1884-1888. Two studies deposited in the National Gallery Prague show the painter’s search for the apposite rendering including the painting’s shape. Eventually, he opted for rectangular scenes with putti such as the allegory of Harvest, Hunting, Fishing, and Grape Harvest supplemented by the paintings with female and male figures representing the Spring and Ploughing.