Books by Jan Royt

This publication, written by Czech professor of art history Jan Royt, renders a vivid image of the capital of the Bohemian Kingdom in the High Gothic period in the broader historical context of the circumstances that were particularly favourable for Prague during Charles IV's reign (1347-1378). For the first time in history, after Charles's coronation as the Holy Roman Emperor in 1355, the capital of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown was simultaneously the metropolis of the Holy Roman Empire. Thanks to the royal and imperial care, which in addition to Charles' monarchical post in Europe also reflected his Western-European education and cosmopolitan openness as well as his belief in and respect for the Premyslid tradition, Prague flourished, becoming a unique and beautiful city. The cathedral, the stone bridge, the university and construction of the New Town and its churches laid out in a magical cross pattern, remain today as the "stone seals" on the face of Prague's Gothic architecture, endorsed by the paintings, sculpture and the entire realm of spiritual culture. The book contains around 100 photographs of Prague monuments, sights and documentary images.

The Master of the Trebon Altarpiece was a painter active in Prague in the fourteenth century and one of the most important gothic artists of the international style. This book attempts to definitively identify and contextualize this unknown artist's oeuvre. It is suitable for scholars of art history as well as European art aficionados.