Prague had two statues restored at the entrance to the Prague Market
Update: 15/07/2022 11:38
Issued by: 15/07/2022, 11:38
Prague – The capital has restored two statues of men with bulls from 1895, which stand at the entrance to the Prague Market in Holešovice. Representatives of the municipality and the Gallery of the City of Prague (GHMP), which was in charge of the project, told journalists on the spot today. The work was carried out by restorer Jan Brabec for approximately 1.5 million crowns. According to him, the statues were in very poor condition due to neglected maintenance.
The sculptures were created at the end of the 19th century by prominent sculptors Bohuslav Schnirch and Čeněk Vosmík, who are suitable for decorating the National Museum, for example. The works are symbolically based on the original function of the market area, where the city slaughterhouse was. One of them works like a breeder with a bull and another man who leads to slaughter. Both works are listed.
According to the restorer, the city decided to restore the works “in five minutes to twelve”. “The sculptures are made up of three large blocks, and all the voids and joints between them were washed out, so there was leakage, vegetation was clinging there, and the vegetation and frost destruction threatened to damage the sculpture much more, or even break the statics,” he explained. He added that almost no care had been given to the statues since their placement.
According to him, the work began last year with cleaning, during which he discovered that the plinths had been damaged to such an extent that it was later necessary to replace parts of them with new stones. In the second stage, which began in the spring, he carried out color retouches, restored metal attributes and changed damaged blocks in the lower part, among other things.
City councilor for culture Hana Třeštíková (Praha Sobě) reminded that, in addition to the restoration of existing works, Prague has an Art for the City program, which supports the creation of new works in public space. Deputy Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek (Praha Sobě) added that the city also wants to show respect for its history when managing and making improvements to the market area.
The city recently selected in an architectural competition the authors of the future form of the public spaces in the market hall, which became Studio Perspektiv. According to the proposal, the market area will have new entrances, which should be divided into pedestrian and car entrances, a square, a children’s playground, greenery or water features and furniture. According to earlier information, the project work on the transformation of the public spaces in the Prague Market will take about two years. The modification itself is planned in stages. According to earlier information, the transformation of the market will take about ten years, the first changes should be visible in about 2027.
The city is carrying out minor modifications in the area, last year, for example, it had two houses demolished at the entrance to the area from Jateční Street, which did not fit in with the historical form of the market. The area was recently taken over by the municipal company Výstaviště Praha, which takes care of Výstaviště.
The site of the original Prague slaughterhouse was founded in 1895. It functioned as a slaughterhouse until the 1980s, when it began to change into a market. The area was declared a cultural monument.