MORAVSKY KRUMLOV - Prague and the Czech Republic - page 224

figure out Mucha's intention. His technique will help you. The
grand-scale background—which shows the historic events—is
executed in egg-based tempera. Against that low-resolution, foggy
base, clear details come into focus: the terrified couple, the mother
with the child, the bearded sage with the young man, the face of
the lady-in-waiting. These figures are painted in oil, and the lucid
detail tells the experience of a single, often-anonymous individual.
The people within Slav Epic suggest that Mucha's artwork is not
about monumental depiction of a particular event, but about the
fate of the individual against the backdrop of history. The entire
weight of events is condensed into the expressions shown on their
faces. In the scene showing a print shop, the young man in the
foreground is Mucha's own self-portrait.
Finally, step even farther back and contemplate the painting
as a work of an Impressionist or an abstract artist. The fusion of
colors stands far beyond any particular meaning. Like the tones of
a 19th-century symphony, Mucha's visual concert has the power to
stir the deepest emotions.
Cost, Hours, Location: 70 Kč, April-Oct Tue-Sun
9:00-12:00 & 13:00-16:00, July-Aug until 17:00, closed Mon,
closed Nov-March, tel. [phone]. The ticket office sells a few
brochures and pictures. Notice how out-of-place Mucha's charac-
teristic posters feel here. Allow two hours to see Slav Epic —it's
hard to appreciate the work in less time.
SlEEPING
(17 Kč = about $1, country code: 420)
$ Hotel Epopej (Epic) was built in the early 1960s on the town's
main square (Náměstí T.G. Masaryka) to accommodate far
more visitors than actually ended up coming. The hotel and the
restaurant deteriorated until both were closed down. Fortunately,
the economic boom of recent years brought the need for a new,
modern, business-class facility. The hotel's 20 rooms were reno-
vated and equipped with modern amenities. Whether you're tra-
veling to Moravský Krumlov to spend more time in the company
of lanky Slavic heroes—or if you're simply stranded in Moravský
Krumlov overnight—you won't regret your stay here (Sb-600 Kč,
Db-1,000 Kč, Tb-1,450 Kč, free Wi-Fi, tel. [phone], fax 515-
322-373, www.hotel-epopej.cz, [e-mail]).
E ATI NG
Restaurant Epopej, on the ground floor of the hotel listed above, is
popular with locals attracted by both the varied menu (available in
English) and cheap lunch specials (advertised only in Czech). Ask