The Renaissance decoration of the Lobkovic (Schwarzenberg) palace in Prague

The Baccalaureate thesis, "The Renaissance decoration of the Lobkowicz (Schwarzenberg) Palace in Prague", starts with a brief introduction into construction activities of aristocracy around Prague Castle during the reign of Ferdinand I who supported building of new residences in this part of the capital. Aristocratic families were buying properties and burgher houses burned out in a devastating fire of Lesser Quarter and Hradcany in 1541 and building their grand Renaissance palaces. Prague's High Burgrave, Jan Junior Popel of Lobkowicz, had his impressive palace built on the Hradcany Square between 1545 and 1567. He called an Italian architect Agostino Galli, who worked at Horsovsky Tyn, the main country residence of the Lobkowicz family, and he built an unusually T-shaped palace. Four rooms on the second floor still have well-preserved original coffered ceilings with paintings depicting scenes from antique mythology and history. Chosen subjects of the paintings, created by some house painter around 1580 when the palace was the residence of Krystof and Vilem of Lobkowicz, were nothing unusual at that time. However, the author of this idea was rather Jan Junior Popel, one of the most powerful aristocrats in the Kingdom of Bohemia