Vladislav Hall at Prague Castle

The artist dedicated this print to Christoph Popel von Lobkowicz – a prominent figure at the court of Emperor Rudolf II. Aegidius Sadeler depicted the space viewed from the west wall towards the entrance to the oratory of the capitular All Saints’ Church. Shown are all five sections of the vaulted ceiling that visually divide the hall. The artist engraved framed spandrels in the empty upper corners of the print, featuring in their centres shields à bouche, with the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Bohemia to the left and that of the Lobkowicz family to the right. Sadeler’s engraving of Vladislav Hall is one of the most remarkable perspectival studies created in the Czech lands. The accuracy with which the artist rendered depth and space documents his attentive reading of the theories on perspective. It is therefore only natural that the engraving served as a source of inspiration for later representations of Vladislav Hall and was copied by many artists.