Triga, reworked model by Bohuslav Schnirch for the National Theatre in Prague

Bohuslav Schnirch was a foremost representative of Neo-Renaissance tendencies, who had a major share in the sculpture decorations of the National Theatre. Best known, in addition to the Muses and Apollo on the attic of facade, are his chariots with three horses (trigae) on the corner pylons. Schnirch produced the first draft of a triga during his two years in Italy. When he returned to Prague in 1873, his participation was already safely confirmed. His formally pure drafts, with their perfectly mastered form and a wealth of exquisitely presented details, are faultless academic jobs. The definitive sculptures were put in place after Schnirch’s death - in 1910, somewhat modified by the sculptors Emanuel Halman, František Rous and Ladislav Šaloun, who stripped Schnirch’s sculptures of excessive decorative details, emphasized volume and disturbed the too static outlines of the monumental sculptures.