B&W gallery: Jan Hus

Dominating the Old Town Sq in Prague is this memorial to the 14th century iconoclast and

reformer Jan Hus, although the figure here is not Hus himself but one of his acolytes on the

edge of the memorial. According to Wikipedia, it was designed by one Ladislav Šaloun in 1915

to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Hus's martyrdom.

In about six trips to Prague, I've had many goes at photographing this famous statue, but

this is the only time that it's worked for me - the light was right, I didn't have a broken-down

BSA to get fixed, I wasn't hung-over and I had time to compose the shot. Most people

photograph the statue in long-shot, presumably as part of the record of their trip to Prague,

but I find the whole thing a bit lumpen and dull. However, this striking detail, the follower's

arm pointing almost accusingly (this is pre-Luther) toward the Týn Church, says more about

the passions of the reforming movement than does the imperious but somewhat bland figure

of Jan Hus himself, up there on his perch.

Dominating the Old Town Sq in Prague is this memorial to the 14th century iconoclast and

reformer Jan Hus, although the figure here is not Hus himself but one of his acolytes on the

edge of the memorial. According to Wikipedia, it was designed by one Ladislav Šaloun in 1915 to

commemorate the 500th anniversary of Hus's martyrdom.

In about six trips to Prague, I've had many goes at photographing this famous statue, but this is

the only time that it's worked for me - the light was right, I didn't have a broken-down BSA to

get fixed, I wasn't hung-over and I had time to compose the shot. Most people photograph

the statue in long-shot, presumably as part of the record of their trip to Prague, but I find the

whole thing a bit lumpen and dull. However, this striking detail, the follower's arm pointing almost

accusingly (this is pre-Luther) toward the Týn Church, says more about the passions of the

reforming movement than does the imperious but somewhat bland figure of Jan Hus himself, up

there on his perch.

Jan Hus statue