Topography

Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia], volumes I–IV

Right from the establishment of the Institute of Art History (originally known as the Cabinet for Art Theory and Art History of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences) in 1953, one of its basic tasks was compiling inventories of the artistic heritage of Bohemia. They continue the tradition of the series of publications by the Czech Academy for Science, Literature and Art, which included the Soupis památek okresu kolínského [Inventory of Monuments in the Kolín District], published in 1897.

Under the editorship of Zdeněk Wirth, the Cabinet first prepared the single-volume Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia], published in 1957.

In the years 1958-1963 field research was carried out with the intention of correcting and expanding the single-volume topography. Its results, often combined with documentation of the devastation and destruction of objects in the border region and areas where military campaigns had taken place, is documented in a four-volume work prepared under the leadership of Emanuel Poche, which was published in the years 1977-1982.

Emanuel Poche (ed.), Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia] I. A –J, Praha 1977.
Emanuel Poche (ed.), Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia] II. K–O, Praha 1978.
Emanuel Poche (ed.), Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia] III. P–Š, Praha 1980.
Emanuel Poche (ed.), Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia] IV. T–Ž, Praha 1982.

Umělecké památky Prahy [The Artistic Heritage of Prague], volumes I–V

The aim of the project Umělecké památky Prahy [The Artistic Heritage of Prague] is to fill in the gaps in the art historical topography of Bohemia. The original inventory work carried out by the Archaeological Commission of Hlávka's Academy concentrated on a format based on the administrative districts of the time. While this did not exclude the artistic sites of the capital from the project, in fact the volumes produced by Antonín Podlaha only partially fulfilled the task, covering solely the Hradčany district and Prague Castle.

After a re-evaluation of the concept of the inventories by Zdeněk Wirth before the Second World War, four volumes of Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia] were published under the editorship of Emanuel Poche in 1977-1982, but they once again failed to include the immense wealth of artistic sites in Prague.

In 1991 the task was therefore taken on by the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences, where a new department for art historical topography was set up, initially headed by Pavel Vlček. Work on the task, subsidised by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, began in 1993 and still continues today.

The following volumes have been published so far:

Umělecké památky Prahy. Staré Město, Josefov [The Artistic Heritage of Prague. The Old Town, Josefov] (Pavel Vlček and collective), Praha 1996.
Umělecké památky Prahy. Nové Město, Vyšehrad, Vinohrady (Praha 1) [The Artistic Heritage of Prague. The New Town, Vyšehrad, Vinohrady (Prague 1)] (Růžena Baťková and collective), Praha 1998.
Umělecké památky Prahy. Malá Strana [The Artistic Heritage of Prague. The Lesser Town] (Pavel Vlček and collective), Praha 1999.
Umělecké památky Prahy. Pražský hrad a Hradčany [The Artistic Heritage of Prague. Prague Castle and Hradčany] (Pavel Vlček and collective), Praha 2000.

The last sections, the three parts of volume V, are currently in the final phase of preparation for publication:

Umělecké památky Prahy. Velká Praha. A–L [The Artistic Heritage of Prague. Greater Prague A-L] (Pavel Vlček and collective);
Umělecké památky Prahy. Velká Praha. M–Š [The Artistic Heritage of Prague. Greater Prague M-Š] (Dalibor Prix and collective); and
Umělecké památky Prahy. Velká Praha. T–Ž [The Artistic Heritage of Prague. Greater Prague T-Ž] (Dalibor Prix and collective).

Umělecké památky Moravy a Slezska [The Artistic Heritage of Moravia and Silesia], volumes I–IV

When the four-volume project Umělecké památky Čech [The Artistic Heritage of Bohemia] was completed in 1982, the Institute turned its attention, on the initiative of Josef Krása, to the complementary task of mapping out the artistic sites in Moravia and the Czech part of Silesia, where up until then no art historical inventory of any sort had been compiled comparable with those being undertaken in other parts of Europe. The work, which started in 1980, was entrusted to Bohumil Samek, and later on, in the 1990s, a modest detached workplace of the Institute was stabilised in Brno, whose main task became the compilation of the Moravian artistic inventory.

During the course of the exhaustive project it became clear that the original plan for a single volume would be insufficient to meet the modern expectations of art historical topography. The assignment grew and now four volumes are planned, exceeding the capacity of the original sole compiler; work still continues on it today.

The following volumes have been published so far:

Umělecké památky Moravy a Slezska. [The Artistic Heritage of Moravia and Silesia] 1. A/I (Bohumil Samek), Praha 1994.
Umělecké památky Moravy a Slezska. [The Artistic Heritage of Moravia and Silesia] 2. J/N (Bohumil Samek), Praha 1999.

Preparations are currently being completed for the publication of the third volume:

Umělecké památky Moravy a Slezska. [The Artistic Heritage of Moravia and Silesia] 3. O/P (Bohumil Samek and collective)
Umělecké památky Moravy a Slezska. [The Artistic Heritage of Moravia and Silesia] 4. R/Ž (Bohumil Samek – Dalibor Prix and collective)