Venus, Cupid and Jupiter, depicted in sgraffito on Renaissance facade of burgher or town house on Horni náměstí (Upper Square) in Slavonice, South Bohemia, Czechia. The planetary deities ride the skies in chariots above worldly scenes below. The property displaying this sgraffito design, alongside designs featuring other Roman gods and goddesses, is Horni náměstí 517. To the right of Jupiter are the heads of two wolves that pull the chariot of Mars.
Slavonice, South Bohemia, Czechia: sgraffito on Renaissance facade of a burgher or town house on Horni náměstí (Upper Square) in the historic centre of Slavonice. The house displaying this sgraffito design is Horni náměstí 517, originally a Gothic two-storey house, rebuilt in 1559. On its facade, the house bears fragments of sgraffito decoration which date from 1559 - the date was found in sgraffito above the entrance portal. Venus and Jupiter are two of seven planetary deities riding in chariots across the skies that run in a horizontal band below the first floor windows of Horni náměstí 517. To the right of Jupiter are the heads of two wolves that pull the chariot of Mars. Venus, Roman goddess of love, sits on a chariot, holding a spear in her right hand and ribbon in her left, leading Cupid, who holds a bow and arrow. Jupiter, Roman king of all gods, is represented with a beard, helmet and armour, seated on a chariot and holding an arrow in his left hand. Below them, scenes from life on earth are: on the left, three bathing figures; and on the right, a couple at a table with modest refreshment and a young man playing a lute nearby. Slavonice, a small town lying close to the Austrian border, in the historical region of Moravia, was founded in the 1100s CE and expanded in the 1300s. It owes its current appearance to the building and rebuilding of many houses in the 1500s, when the town was established as a post stage between Prague and Vienna. The above information on sgraffito decoration of Horni náměstí 517 draws on research by Michaela Musilová, compiled for a History of Art Bachelor Thesis at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice in 2014.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Location: Slavonice, South Bohemia, Czechia / Czech Republic
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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