Loretánsky Poklad [antikvár]

LORETTO l^REASURE EMANUEL POCIIK •ought to being. wUo ¦ oilptural or pictorial i ration iif old anliqiie religioiii ci y objectsof precoius metali and d; cif iupernatiiral ijeingi or were ex I II lip mended reipec 'ere object! of reli^out cull, panic ipreientation*. This wai iiie ca*e Ij ftomi thi* praetic« waa accepted L Loretii with io;i> of thaolci for favour (faown. piety, e»peciaily wliere the cull , ibe caie of the Virgio Mary of the reUpoiu call tbould íD. Therefore there i* no presented the aaocutary The Lotetlo Virgin Mary Treature at Hradcany in Prague is the lecond biggeil cathedral ireaiure in Cieeboslovakia to that housed in St Vitus' Cathedral on Prague Castle. Moreover, these two represent the last existing and relatively well preserved treasurea of artistic objects, particularly of jewellery and embroidery handicrafu; they were founded aa inseparable collccüons to be sytemoticoUy enlarged and taken good caro of. There is, however, aomo difference between the Loretto and tlie St. Vitus" Treasurea. Whcreaa the latter was being formed in the course of centurica, mainly in connection with the relics and mementos of the Saints and their cult, and only in the second place as a collection of precious church objecU, the former is moi« or less a matter of one period, a matter of representation of one family, a collection witbont any practical liturgical utilization. It w.-is a port of the manifestation of religious counter-reformation exaltation in which the worship of the Virgio Mary was an expression of ardent religiosity as well as a meansof re-catholicizing policy, endeavouring to support the counter.reformation ideas among the broadeat masses by reatoring the pre-Huisite traditions. In thia component of the political-religious programme a significant role was played by Marian churches and pluccs of pilgrimage. By its emotional contenU the cult of the beautiful but poor and simple mother spoke to the hearts and minds of the subjugated Czech people aceking agam consolation in their afdicitona. The new Marian sanctuaries, eapecially thoae of pilgrimage, which were to serve collective indulgence in this cult associated concretely with the ancient or allegedly ancicut rcprcsciitatioiia of the Madona, attracted more and more attention and were gradually provided with better equipment. At the bead of these actions stood rich Catholic lords. Some members of the Czech nobility had been getting reody lo fight for restoration of Cathoiism long before the White Mountain tragedy and its consequcnccs befell the Ciech naUon. Among them a signilicant role was played by the memhcrs of the House ol Lob-kowitz. They were the author» of the idea of Lorettoa and were the firat lo fomid the oldest of the forty-eight Lorettoa that were built in Dohemiu and Moravia during the aeventcenth and eighteenth centuries as specific types of Marian sanctuaries. It was Christopher Popel of Lobkowitz (1S49-1609), the highest CoutroUcr, who was the author of the idea to build in Bohemia a copy of the alleged bouse of the Virgin Mary >vhicb. according to legends, was transferred by the angels from Nazareth to Ualmatia and from there to the Italian Loretto where it was mentioned as far back as the 12th century. This idea was obviously connected with his long slay in the Catholic south. He stndied law at Bologne and then lived in Spain for ten years as courtier to the daughter and sons of Maximilian II, especially Rudolph who having become Emperor felt great affection to Popel. It was also a cjuesUon of their common interest in art aa is evidenced by the famous Wunelhauer's Venus which Christopher Popel had cost for the garden fountain in his Hradcany castle. The main Popel's residence was his estate at Horsovsk^ Tjn. the chief source of lUs wealth which was also enlarged by the dowries of his two wives; of Mary of Mollarth, a rich Upper Austrioii noble->voman. and after her death of Elizabeth ol Lobkowiu. his cousin from the Cblumec Uneoge. Both of them were devoted Cstliolics, and it was due to this atmosphere of religious ardour as wcU aa of economic prosperity that the first Czech Loretto waa built at HorSovsk^ Tyn in IS84. It was based on the older Italian Loretto that had become an intenuüonal place of pilgrimage by the second half of the Uth ccntur>- and wWch Christopher Popel had visited before it was reconstrucled by D. Dramanie at the end of the 16lh century. like the original Italian Loretto also the Czech one was a simple building of a votive rather than artistic character. Nevertheless, it paved the way to the conception of the basic type of a Marian sanctuary of pilgrimage in Czech mlUcu and was followed immediately. In 1623 two Lorettos were founded at Mikulov and Ol llújck near Prague, in 1626 it was tbc Loretto at Ilradiany; all of them were more or less modelled on ibe Late Renaissance nconstructioii and decorotion of the Italian Loretto with a copy uf the Virgin Mary as the central object of cult.