Art lovers have a new reason to visit Kroměříž. Since the end of last year, one of Max Švabinský’s five lunettes has been installed in the arcade in front of the Kroměříž Regional Museum on the Main Square. Titled Builders of the National Theatre, it features important figures of Czech culture: Josef Zítek, Bedřich Smetana, František Palacký, Mikoláš Aleš, Josef Václav Myslbek, and Vojtěch Hynais. Until 2024, the piece had been kept at the Archbishop’s Palace, out of public view.
It now complements the remaining four lunettes (Libuše Foretells the Glory of Prague, Charles IV Founds the University, Jan Žižka Leads the Hussites into Battle, Comenius Bids Farewell to His Homeland) that are displayed on the wall of the former Franciscan Monastery, now the Octárna Hotel.
This entire set was created by Kroměříž-born Max Švabinský as a proposed replacement for damaged frescoes by Josef Tulka on the northern façade of the National Theatre in Prague. Although Švabinský completed detailed designs and mosaics, they were never installed, as it was eventually decided to restore Tulka’s originals instead. Švabinský’s lunettes were highly praised, and he received a state award for them.
Between 1973 and 1997, the artworks decorated the Colloredo Colonnade in the Chateau Garden, but they were removed when the palace and gardens were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, prompting the search for a new location. Four of them found a home on the Octárna wall; the fifth is now displayed under the museum’s arcade.
Visitors can now trace Max Švabinský’s legacy throughout the town, including a stop at the Town Hall, where his acclaimed painting The Harvest is displayed, and a visit to the Max Švabinský Memorial, located in the Kroměříž Regional Museum. There, visitors will find a wide range of his graphic works, as well as the famous Pink Portrait, Yellow Parasol, and designs for postage stamps and banknotes.