The Iconographic Program of coffered ceiling in Golden hall at the state castle Telč

5 Abstract The work provides a factual description, thematic description and semantic analysis of the coffered ceiling in the Golden Hall at the State Telč Castle in Telč, including the historical context of its making. The ceiling consists of thirty coffers, each depicting one figure. The original graphic templates have been found for fourteen coffers. The depicted figures were identified in additional nine coffers based on the analysis of the represented attributes of those figures, but the meaning of the remaining seven coffers remains to be unclear. Based on identifying the figures in the majority of the coffers, the work builds two main, partially overlapping thematic courses. The first thematic course focuses on love between human beings and love as a part of Christian faith. The second thematic course focuses on moralistic themes, warning against moral lapses and particularly against the improper use of wealth. One chapter in the work focuses on probable authorship of the coffered ceiling and on foreign influences, but a definitive satisfying answer to these questions has not been found. Keywords coffered ceiling, iconographic program, graphic patterns, Golden hall, castle, Tel