Johann Anton Quitainer's contribution to the sculptural decoration of the Strahov monastery in Prague. An examination of the relations between the late baroque sculptor and his patron

The subject of the diploma work is the creative contribution of Johann Anton Quitainer (1709-1765) to the Premonstratensian monastery in Strahov. The diploma work seeks to elucidate both the artistic character of Quitainer's Strahov undertaking, and the circumstances that led to it to being commissioned under the abbots Mariannus Hermann and Gabriel Václav Kaspar. The first part of the diploma worh is titled "The Artist" and is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter the author looks at the history of the Quitainer family and argues that this should be sought near the town of Mohelnice (Müglitz) in the north of Moravia. The second chapter outlines the most important works by J. A. Quitainer and his father Andreas Philipp. The third chapter places the work of the younger Quitainer in the context of contemporary Prague sculpture. The second part of the diploma work is entitled "The Patron" and comprises two chapters. The first describes the celebrations in 1727 marking the hundredth anniversary of the remains of Saint Norbet, the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, being brought to Prague. There then follows a description of the Monastery's history during the wars under the rule of the queen Maria Theresa, and the building's extensive destruction in 1742. The next chapter describes the origin of..