Stare Mesto - The Rough Guide to Prague - page 127

- Kepler getting his chance of employment when Brahe died of a burst bladder after one of
Petr Vok's notorious binges in 1601.
Týn (Ungelt)
Metro Staroměstská
Just off Týnská, the alleyway north of the Týn church, lies the picturesque cobbled courtyard
of Týn ,previouslyknownbyitsGermanname,Ungelt(meaning“NoMoney”,apseudonym
used to deter marauding invaders), which, as the trading base of German merchants, was one
of the first settlements on the Vltava. A hospice, church and hostel were built for the mer-
chants, and by the fourteenth century the area had become a successful international market-
place; soon afterwards the traders moved up to the Hrad, and the court was transformed into
a palace. The complex has since been restored, and is now a pretty place in which to stroll;
the Dominicans have moved back into one section, while the remainder houses shops, cafés,
pubs, restaurants and a hotel.
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Dům U zlatého prstenu (House of the Golden Ring)
Týnská 6 • Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • 120Kč • 224 827 022, ghmp.cz • Metro Staroměstská
Heading along the Týnská alleyway, you come to a handsome Gothic town house, the Dům
Uzlatéhoprstenu ,nowusedbytheCityofPragueGallerytodisplaysomeofits twentieth-
and twenty-first-century Czech art . Though it can't compete with the modern art museum
in the Veletržní palác , it is a good taster. The permanent collection is spread out over three
floors, and arranged thematically rather than chronologically, while the cellar provides space
for installations by contemporary artists; there's also a good little café across the courtyard.
The Czech art collection
On the first floor, symbolism looms large with Destitute Land , Max Švabinský's none-too-
subtle view of life under the Habsburg yoke, and a smattering of works by two of Bohemia's
best-loved eccentrics, Josef Váchal and František Bílek. There's a decent selection of dour
1920s paintings, too, typified by Slagheaps in the Evening II by Jan Zrzavý, plus the usual
Czech Surrealist suspects, Josef Šíma, Toyen and Jiří Štyrský. More refreshing is the sight of
Eduard Stavinoha's cartoon-like Striking Demonstrators 24.2.1948 , an ideological painting
from1948thatappearsalmostlikePopArt.AntonínSlavíček'seasy-on-the-eye Impression-
ist viewsofPraguearedisplayedonthesecondfloor,alongwithworksby Cubist EmilFilla.
Also on this floor, you'll find Zbyšek Sion's absinthe nightmare and the strange perforated
metal sheets of Alena Kučerova. The selection of contemporary works on the third floor
changes more frequently than the rest of the gallery.
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