Look for a light-colored sandstone sculpture forming a distinct pyramid shape, with the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus at the very top and a kneeling saint gazing up at them from below.
This piece was commissioned back in seventeen oh nine by Benedikt Littwerig, the abbot of a Cistercian monastery, as part of a massive effort to turn this bridge into a theatrum sacrum, or a sacred stage, for the public. To bring his vision to life, Littwerig hired the talented sculptor Matěj Václav Jäckel. The Cistercians had very specific theological demands to honor their founder, Saint Bernard. Jäckel delivered an intricate scene, but he also added a rather unexpected touch.
Originally, there were actual metal speech scrolls attached to the figures' mouths, making this perhaps the world's grandest Baroque comic strip. If you check out your screen, you can see a close-up of the figures' faces where these bands once rested. Saint Bernard's metal bubble read Ave Maria, and the Madonna's scroll replied Salve Bernarde. Those bands are gone now, but the literal dialogue remains a charming piece of the bridge's lore.
Jäckel packed the rest of the sculpture with incredibly deliberate details. On the left are the instruments of Christ's passion, including an architectural column modeled directly after a famous holy relic in Rome, physically linking Prague to the wider Catholic world. And if you glance at the app again, you will spot a small angel, or putto, hanging out near Bernard, holding an abbot's pointed hat called a mitre. This subtly honored Abbot Littwerig, ensuring the guy footing the bill got a little divine nod.
What you are looking at today, however, is a modern replica carved from pale sandstone. The original Jäckel masterpiece stood its ground against centuries of wind, rain, and pollution until the late nineteen seventies, when the stone simply could not fight the bitter elements any longer. To ensure the art survived, the fragile original was carefully dismantled and relocated safely indoors to the Gorlice hall at Vyšehrad, perfectly preserved for future generations while its lighter copy takes over the watch.
Move to the south side to see a youthful masterpiece born of a tragic commission, then transition to Statuen der Heiligen Barbara, Margaret und Elizabeth, Charles Bridge.
