Apotheosis of Rudolph II

ARTIST

Oldřich Kulhánek

DATE

1989

MEDIUM

Ink on Paper

DIMENSIONS (approx.)

Width 28” x Length 39” (71 cm x 99 cm)

CREDIT LINE

Bill and Effie Rosene

CURRENT LOCATION

Czech Center Museum 4920 San Jacinto St. Houston, TX 77004

Wenceslas Chapel

CLASSIFICATION

Etching

PROVENANCE

Prague

This etching of Rudolph II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia from 1572 to 1611, was produced in 1989 by Oldřich Kulhánek. Kulhánek, a Czech artist and graphic designer, is most famous for his etchings on Czech banknotes and stamps. Like this piece, titled Apotheosis of Rudolph II, they use minimal color and prominent lines.

In art, apotheosis refers to a treatment of a subject’s most important achievements. In this piece, Kulhánek depicts Rudolph’s patronage of the arts and sciences as his most important achievements through two women. Rudolph’s reign is still regarded as Prague’s Second Golden Age thanks to the progression of art and science and his tolerance of religious beliefs. His network was so extensive that the north wing of Prague Castle was built just for his collections.

In fact, etching originated in the 16th century contemporaneously with Rudolph’s reign. Etching allowed for relatively quick duplication of images, which made it ideal for paper currency prints in the following century. Kulhánek’s prior work in etchings, specifically of portraits and human figures like this one, made his style apt for the design of a new Czech banknote in a traditional style.

Before his etchings graced official banknotes and stamps, however, Kulhánek was arrested by the Communist-controlled Czech State Security (StB) in 1971 for designs condemned as “ideologically dangerous”. Like Kulhánek, Rudolph II was also imprisoned--but instead of state police, it was his own brother in a successful attempt to seize the throne in 1611.

Kulhánek became an artist and teacher in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. He later travelled as a visiting professor, including at the University of Houston — Clear Lake, where Bill and Effie Rosene acquired Apotheosis of Rudolph II in 2009.