On a recent trip to Prague, my sister visited The Slav Epic, a series of 20 monumental canvases, depicting 20 key episodes in Slav history, from ancient to modern day.
Mucha is best known for the theatre posters and art nouveau posters he produced while living in Paris in the 1880’s and 1890’s.
However, Mucha was indeed classically trained, and many of his lesser known work and student works attest to this skill and understanding.
His real mastery is fully demonstrated in The Slav Epic. We see perfect form within perfect composition, to delivery a highly emotive narrative.
The Slav Epic, Cycle #1, The Slavs in their Original Homeland, 1912
The Slav Epic, Cycle #2, The Celebration of Slantovit, 1912
The Slav Epic, Cycle #3, Introduction of the Slavonic Liturgy in Greater Moravia, 1912
The Slav Epic, Cycle #4, Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria, 1923
The Slav Epic, Cycle #5, King Premysl Otakar II of Bohemia, 1924
The Slav Epic, Cycle #6, The Coronation of Serbian Tsar Stepan Dusan, 1926
The Slav Epic, Cycle #7, Milic of Kromeriz, 1916
The Slav Epic, Cycle #8, Master Jan Huls teaching at the Bethlehem Chapel: Truth Prevails, 1916
The Slav Epic, Cycle #9, The Meeting at Krizky, 1916
The Slav Epic, Cycle #10, After the Battle of Grunewald, 1924
The Slav Epic, Cycle #11, After the Battle of Vitkov, 1916
The Slav Epic, Cycle #12, Petr of Chelcice, 1918
The Slav Epic, Cycle #13, The Hussite King Jiri z Podebrad, 1923
The Slav Epic, Cycle #14, The Defence of Sziget by Nicola Zrinski, 1914
The Slav Epic, Cycle #15, The Printing of the Bible in Kralice in Ivancice, 1914
The Slav Epic, Cycle #16, Jan Amos Komensky, 1918
The Slav Epic, Cycle #17, The Holy Mount Athos, 1926
The Slav Epic, Cycle #18, The Oath of Onlandina under the Slavic Linden Tree, 1926
The Slav Epic, Cycle #19, The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia
The Slav Epic, Cycle #20, Apotheosis of the Slavs
