Before the Storm (Clouds)

In the summer 1866, during the Austro-Prussian war, the Purkyně family left Prague and settled in their country house at Všenory. This picture was painted there and, according to family tradition, it shows the nanny Mary and Karel Purkyně's eldest son Honzíček watching the dramatic weather changes preceding a storm. The picture is far more a plein-air study than a genre picture.