St. Vitus Gothic mosaic unveiled after 8-year restoration
The next time you pass the southern wall of Prague Castle's St.Vitus Cathedral, don't forget to look up. Friday saw the unveiling of a completely restored mosaic dating back to the year 1371, in a ceremony attended by Czech President Vaclav Havel. Alena Skodova has this report:
This priceless piece of art was created during the reign of the Czech King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. It depicts the Last Judgement and consists of more than a million tiny glass cubes. The glass came from Central Europe and was of rather poor quality, which explains why the mosaic was not clear but rather grey for its 600 years of existence. The bulk of the restoration work, which lasted eight years, was carried out by the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles, and before the ceremony I spoke to the Institute's director, Timothy P. Whalen, and restorer Francesca Pique:
