Czech monuments tell us more about ourselves than about history, says historian
For centuries, paintings, monuments and public buildings have shaped the way Czechs understand their past. According to art historian and Charles University Professor Vít Vlnas, works of art often tell us less about the historical events they portray than about the period in which they were created. In an interview for Czechast, he reflects on Baroque art, Charles Bridge, collective memory and why modern generations are beginning to see Czech history differently.
History is often associated with kings, battles and political events. But according to Czech art historian Vít Vlnas, paintings, sculptures, monuments and historic buildings can sometimes reveal even more about a society than written documents. Rather than simply recording the past, they help create the stories nations tell about themselves.
A professor at Charles University and former curator and museum manager at Prague's National Gallery, Vít Vlnas believes works of art should always be understood in the context of the period in which they were created: "A nineteenth-century painting depicting an event from the thirteenth century doesn't really tell us about the thirteenth century. It tells us about the nineteenth century and why people of that time wanted to see history in that particular way."
For that reason, he argues, art historians study paintings and monuments not only as artistic masterpieces but also as historical documents. A painting created during the Czech National Revival, for example, often reveals far more about nineteenth-century ideas of nationhood than it does about the medieval events it portrays.
Monuments mirror changing memories
The same principle applies to public monuments. Their creation, removal and occasional return often reflect changing political attitudes rather than changing historical facts.
Discussing Prague's Charles Bridge, Vít Vlnas explains that its famous gallery of statues developed gradually over centuries. Religious orders, university faculties and wealthy benefactors donated sculptures not simply as acts of devotion, but also to leave a lasting mark on one of the city's most prestigious public spaces. Even today, the bridge continues to evolve, with some statues dating only from the twentieth century.
In his view, disputes over monuments are nothing new. Societies have been removing or replacing public symbols for thousands of years: "Iconoclasm is almost as old as art itself. The ancient Romans called it damnatio memoriae. People who remove monuments and people who build them actually share the same belief—they both recognise the power of visual symbols."
As Vít Vlnas puts it, societies continually reinterpret their own history. "We always try to make our past better," he says, suggesting that people often find it easier to reshape the past than influence the future.
Looking beyond old prejudices
Few periods illustrate changing historical interpretations better than the Baroque. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Czech national thinking associated the Baroque with Habsburg domination and the Counter-Reformation. Vít Vlnas, whose academic career has focused largely on Baroque art, says that perception has changed only gradually.
The reassessment began in the early twentieth century, when artists and intellectuals started recognising the remarkable artistic achievements of the period. It gained further momentum during the 1930s, when scholars increasingly viewed the Baroque as an essential chapter of Czech cultural history rather than an unwelcome foreign influence. Even under communism, despite the official ideological narrative, serious scholarly research into Baroque culture continued.
Today, Vít Vlnas believes those old stereotypes have largely disappeared. He sees a similar shift among today's university students. Compared with previous generations, they are more likely to place Czech history within a broader European context and approach historical questions without inherited ideological assumptions. "Young people today look at history much more broadly. They compare Czech history with European history, and perhaps most importantly, they have fewer prejudices than our generation did."
Asked where visitors should begin if they want to understand Czech history through art, Vít Vlnas gives an answer that may surprise many tourists. Rather than recommending Prague Castle or Charles Bridge, he points to the National Theatre.
Its sculptures, paintings and decoration, he says, form a visual manifesto of nineteenth-century Czech national identity. They continue to shape how Czechs imagine their own past even today.
In many ways, that is Vít Vlnas's central message. Art is never simply about beauty. Every monument, painting or public building reflects the values of the people who created it. And although historians continue to revise and expand our understanding of the past, he argues that Czechs still largely view their own history through the prism of nineteenth-century nationalism—a reminder that works of art are not only windows into history but also mirrors reflecting the generations that produced them.
You can listen to the full conversation with Vít Vlnas on Czechast, the podcast in English about all things Czech, available on all major podcast platforms or here on the Radio Prague International website.
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