Enfilade

The Czech edition appeared in 2017:

Vít Vlnas, Baroque Prague, translated by Derek Paton (Prague: Karolinum Press, Charles University, 2022), 330 pages, ISBN: ‎ 978-8024643762, $30.

Baroque Prague is a lavish excursion through Prague’s important baroque period, beginning with the defeat of Czech Protestants at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620 and ending with the philosophical era of Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. In this book, Vit Vlnas explores both the material and spiritual transformations the city went through during this boisterous period, treating the baroque epoch as a cultural phenomenon vital to the current genius loci of the great Central European capital. Vlnas guides readers through the city from Prague Castle to the Lesser Town, Old Town, and New Town, as well as Vyšehrad, the important historic fortress. In a special section, he takes us to equally important baroque monuments outside of the historical city center. Lushly illustrated with over 200 color plates, including both historical images and contemporary photographs of architectural exteriors, the text is accompanied by helpful maps indicating the location of the monuments, as well as a glossary of prominent figures during the period. Both a highly readable introductory study and a work for experienced scholars of the history of Bohemia, Baroque Prague is an exciting homage to Europe’s great ‘city of a hundred spires’, and shows how a place’s storied past informs its present soul.

Vít Vlnas is head of the Institute of Christian Art History at Charles University and head of the Center for Humanistic Studies at the Moravian Museum.