"Obraz všech vládců" aneb bludný kruh znojemské rotundy
| Title in English | "The image of all rulers” or the vicious circle of the Znojmo rotunda |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Časopis Matice moravské |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | |
| Keywords | Znojmo rotunda; Přemyslids; paintings; symbolism |
| Description | The paper deals with the dating and interpretation of the Přemyslid cycle in two stripes of wall paintings in the rotunda of the Virgin Mary and St. Catherine in Znojmo, specifically the recent discussion sparked by an article by the same author (Reitinger, Lukáš: Znojemský cyklus Přemyslovců a oficiální katalog českých knížat. Umění 67, 2019, pp. 498–513). Here the author offered the interpretation of the paintings – they depict a visualisation of the official catalogue of Bohemian princes, which was a kind of backbone of the identity of the Přemyslids from the 12th century at the latest. The main arguments in favour of this interpretation are its simple comprehensibility for the contemporary commissioner and observer and the fact that the Přemyslid cycle, in its simplest sequence, coincides with the official catalogue, especially in the fact that Vratislav II is in both cases the 21st in the sequence from Přemysl Oráč (see appendix). This thesis was opposed in a very heated polemic by Lubomír Jan Konečný (Sakrálně-politická legitimace Přemyslovců v malbách znojemské rotundy. Vlastivědný věstník moravský 74, 2022, pp. 227–232) and David Vrána (Znojemská rotunda v současných polemikách. Vlastivědný věstník moravský 74, 2022, pp. 232–255), to whose texts the present article responds. The paper draws attention to the principal weaknesses of their theses, especially about the time of the construction and painting of the Znojmo rotunda, about the fundamental symbolism of the cloaks of the princes depicted, and about the unconvincing attempt to date the creation of the aforementioned official catalogue to the 13th century. Last but not least, the author of the paper takes into account the broader context of such medieval legitimizing depictions of genealogy and the succession of rulers or holders of a certain office. |