Astronomy, Astrology and Alchemy - People in Prague #1

On my last trip to Prague, I started thinking about a new set of posts which are a slight departure from my normal subject matter. The idea came about because of a framed poster on the wall in my apartment. It was an image ** created by a local Prague artist, Jiří Votruba, and it depicts a number of famous people and fictional characters associated with Prague. The ensemble includes politicians, musicians, artists, writers, and religious figures and royalty.

There are also two scientists, or more accurately, astronomers, shown - Tycho Brahe and Johann Kepler. The two men could not have been more different, Brahe (1546-1601) was a Danish nobleman while Kepler (1571-1630) was from a poor German family. Their paths crossed in Prague in 1600 when Brahe was the Royal Mathematician at the court of Rudolf II and he invited Kepler to become his assistant.

The statue of Brahe and Keppler near Pohořelec

Not only were the two men from different backgrounds, but their approaches to science were radically different. Brahe, who had been fascinated by eclipes since boyhood, made painstaking observations of celestial bodies and collected vast amounts of data relating to their positions in the sky. Kepler, the mathematician who only became interested in astronomy after meeting Brahe, used calculations to derive theories to test against. Neither man's contribution to the fledgeling field of astronomy would have had much value without the other. Ironically, the two men fought continuously while working together, because Brahe refused to share his data. After Brahe's death in 1601, only a year after they met, Kepler stole the data he needed. In 1609, Kepler published his first two Laws of Planetary motions, using the data from Brahe and improving on the model developed by Copernicus from 1543. The third law was published ten years later in 1619.

The statue of Brahe and Keppler near Pohořelec

Brahe was an eccentric character who was widely regarded as an obnoxious and arrogant drunk. As a student, he lost his nose in a duel (over who was a better mathematician) and had it replaced by a gold one. It has been speculated that his death was due to kidney failure as a result of his excessive lifestyle, although there is some evidence that he had ingested a large amount of mercury - perhaps in association with his dalliance with alchemy. Incidentally, I've written about Tycho de Brahe in an earlier post as he was a resident Nový Svět. 

Plaque indicating Brahe's House in Novy Svet

Kepler struggled to find support for his work following Brahe's death, and he made his income by telling astrological fortunes. As a Protestant, Kepler had frequent clashes with the Catholic authorities who were now well established in Prague following the Battle of Bilá Hora. He lost his wife and son to plague and his mother was imprisoned for witchcraft although her sentence was commuted to exile after a five-year struggle, during which Kelper wrote what is considered to be the first ever science fiction novel called "Somnium" (The Dream).

These were strange times across Europe. The realms of Astrology, Alchemy and Astronomy were inevitably interlinked. Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička), a little street within the confines of the Prague castle complex was named after the goldsmiths who lived there, but it was once known as Alchemists Lane. There is no evidence that alchemy was seriously practiced there but Rudolph II played a large part in the development of alchemy across Bohemia, and it was considered a mainstream science.

Golden Lane

Golden Lane

Rudolph II even brought two English alchemists to his court, Edward Kelly and John Dee. Ultimately, Dee fell out with Kelly and returned home. Kelly was imprisoned after failing to deliver on any of his promises and eventually died from injuries sustained while trying to escape.

There is still evidence of Brahe and Kepler's work in Prague. Some of their instruments are still on show in the Klementinum. Until the end of 2017, there was a tiny but fascinating Kepler Museum,   located in a back alley off Karlova, but this has now closed and has been relocated to the National Technology Museum.

 ** I'm currently trying to get permission from the artist to reproduce the image in this blog, until then, here's a link!

Hidden Prague #7 - Star Wars meets Art Nouveau in Perfect Harmony

A few weeks ago I published my Fly on the Wall and other Oddities post. It appears to have been very popular (thank you!), so I've decided to follow up with another set of weird and wonderful statues and sculptures which are all in easy reach of the centre of town but might not immediately jump out at you unless you make a determined effort to see them!

Firstly - the Star Wars Connection. Well, actually there isn't really one. But there are two statues in town (that I know of) that bear an uncanny resemblance to characters from the franchise. The first is the Darth Vader look alike, which is located in Mariánské náměstí, and best reached by walking along Platnéřská as an alternative route into the Old Town Square.

The statue of the Iron Knight was sculpted by Ladislav Šaloun in the early 20th century and depicts a character named Jáchym Berka who was the subject of a rather tragic love story, and now haunts the streets of Prague until he can obtain his freedom - an opportunity only afforded to him once every one hundred years. For the full story check out this page.

Jáchym Berka - the ghostly Iron Knight

The second Star Wars character is that of the Emperor himself. This is the "Cloak of Conscience" or "Il Commendatore" by Anna Chromy. The "Cloak" has many versions, but this one is located outside the Estates Theatre (Železná), best known as the place where Mozart first performed his opera, "Don Giovanni", from which Chromy first took partial inspiration for the piece. When asked about her inspiration for the work, Anna Chromy quoted Albert Einstein: "The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science..."

Il Commendatore / Cloak of Conscience

There are plenty of examples of Art Nouveau in Prague. I'm no art connoisseur but this did catch my eye (as do so many things in this city!). I can't find much about the specific piece, but it is by the Austrian sculptor Richard Luksch (1872-1936) and it sits above a potraviny on the corner of Kaprova and Žatecká near Staroměstská metro station.

There are actually two reliefs, one on each side of the doorway, but despite them being in plain view they are about ten feet off the ground, and you can walk past them dozens of times without noticing them!

Richard Luksch Art Nouveau relief

Lastly in this post, I decided to make room for this chap. This is "Socha Harmonie" or "Statue of Harmony". You can find him on the east embankment behind the Kampa Museum. This statue of Sri Chinmoy was created by British sculptor, Kaivalya Torpy and was dedicated in a ceremony during October 2009. The plaque under the statue reads "If you can create harmony in your life this harmony will enter into vast world".

                  

I wonder if he would have been amused by the joker who donated his hat and sunglasses the first time I visited the place? 

Hidden Prague #5 - A Fly On The Wall and other Oddities

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you may remember my post in February this year about the Hanging Man (strictly Man Hanging Out). In that post, I urged people to not only look around them at the wonders of the city but also to look upwards.

Here are some more strange things you can get a glimpse of if you're looking in the right places. 

First up are the human figures which are part of Michal Trpàk's "Slight Uncertainty" installation. These were originally part of a much larger group of figures displayed in the EBC office building in Prague, but some have made their way to other parts of town.

These two can be found at the intersection of Na Zbořenci and Odborů. Although they look like cement, they are actually made of polyester and are meant to represent "the people belonging to the working middle-class society who have taken the biggest hit in the recession. The airborne figures portray an expression of sadness, despair and an apparent instability". Each figure took about six months to create from initial drawing and is about 160cm tall.

While you're there, check out the giant fly on the building behind the man with the umbrella. Most people miss it, and quite honestly, it is pretty gross. Interestingly I can't find any information about the creator or intent behind this monster, but then this is Prague!

Next are the mysterious figures sitting atop the building (Deymův Palace) on Voršilská which runs between Národní and Ostrovní (where I'm currently staying and writing this post!). Once again, I can't find any provenance associated with the three figures, but my research indicates they were installed sometime after 2005.

Finally, in this group, it would seem appropriate to mention the figure of King Wenceslas riding on an upside down horse which is hanging from the atrium roof in the Lucerna Palace. It's another David Černý sculpture...

The figure is either called "Horse", "Dead Horse" or "Saint Wenceslas" depending on which source you use and was created in 1999, but, as usual, Černý makes little comment about his work. However, I'm sure that the location of the statue, just a few hundred metres away from the more conventional monument to King Wenceslas in Václavské náměstí is no coincidence! I leave you to speculate on the meaning.

Remember - in Prague, it's often 'onwards and upwards'! If you know of any other upwardly mobile oddities, please leave a comment or drop me a note.