At the Grave of a Fighter of the Lord

Mikoláš Aleš

Mikoláš Aleš - At the Grave of a Fighter of the Lord
This is one of Aleš's first paintings, a paraphrase of Svatopluk Čech's poem A Hussite on the Baltic, published in 1868 in the Almanack Ruch. The poem is about the death of a Hussite fighter on the Baltic shore and his grave in the rocks. Aleš situated the scene on a snow-covered plain and near to a row of wooden crosses he placed a faded tombstone. Next to it stands in silent contemplation of Hussite captain - a devasted building (perhaps the Pelplin monastery) is burning in the distance and some horsemen are riding away. The meditative sadness no doubt also expressed the painter's sorrow over the death of his father, who died not long before Aleš painted this picture. Later, in 1906, Aleš gave the painting to Svatopluk Čech for his sixtieth birthday.
date:
measurements: height 48 cm
width 75,5 cm
material: canvas
technique: oil
inscription:
inventory number: O 5401
gallery collection: Collection of 19th Century Art and Classical Modernism

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