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Benedikt Rejt

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Benedikt Rejt
A probable portrait of Benedikt Rejt, detail of the painting Danish king Eric comes to see St. Wenceslas Church in the St. Wenceslas Chapel of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague
Born
Benedikt Ried

c. 1450
Diedbetween 1531 and 1536
NationalityBohemian
Known forArchitecture
Notable workVladislav Hall in Prague,
St. Barbara's Church in Kutná Hora,
St. Anne's Church in Annaberg,
St. Nicholas Church in Louny
MovementLate Gothic style, sometimes with Renaissance elements (so called Jagiellonian Gothic)

Benedikt Rejt (often spelled Benedikt Ried[a]; c. 1450 – between 1531 and 1536) was a leading medieval architect in Bohemia, today's Czech Republic. He built Vladislav Hall (1497–1500) in Prague Castle, St. Barbara's Church, Kutná Hora, (c. 1482) and other buildings in a late Gothic and early Renaissance style.

Historical context

Bohemia became the cultural center of Central Europe when Charles IV brought the Holy Roman Emperor's court to Prague in the 14th century. The Royal Court Workshop under the guidance of Peter Parler was one of the highlights of Gothic architecture in the Holy Roman Empire. The Hussite Wars then stopped all plans for cultural development in the region for many decades.

When Bohemia was again open to Europe after 1480, during the reign of Vladislaus II, good architects were in great demand. The king as well as Bohemian noblemen (the House of Rosenberg being among the richest) searched the surrounding workshops, especially in Danubian countries, for a master builder to realize their projects.[1] The king had a great challenge in the court of Meissen, where Albert III, Duke of Saxony started building Albrechtsburg in 1471.[1]

Life

There is little information about Rejt from historical sources. The dates of birth and death are unclear as well as the place of origin or early life activity (Mencl guesses the Inn River, probably Burghausen).[1] All the knowledge of his life comes from a few documents, especially those of a judicial character.[2] From these sources it is obvious that Rejt was a renowned architect and baumeister (Latin: magister operis, "master builder") whose opinion was highly valued at court, where he was called to review work of other contemporary architects. As early as 1489 (when he was asked to review the work of Matěj Rejsek),[2] he was considered an authority in the field of architecture. This fact supports the surmise that he had created some of the masterpieces built before that year with unclear authorship. In addition, Prague, Most, Kutná Hora, and Annaberg (the latter two were silver-mining centres at that time) were among the richest cities of Central Europe, and it is likely that only the best architects were invited to work there.

After 1500 he was often referred to as Master Benedikt and a Prague architect and stonemason hired by the Crown.[2] There is also a theory that Rejt can be identified with Benedykt Sandomierski, who rebuilt Piotrków Trybunalski Castle (1519) and other buildings in Poland.[2]

In 1518, Rejt was a chairman and key participant at the congress of architects and stonemasons from all of Central Europe in Annaberg, Saxony.[1] Many hints in historical sources are disputable. According to some of them Rejt came to Prague as a military engineer to rebuild the Prague Castle fortification (he may have built the walls of the castles Rabí and Švihov as well).[2] He then became famous for his skills in the art of Late Gothic vaults, in which art he reached one of the peaks in all medieval architecture. Earlier he was considered an inventor of the tent roof of cathedrals (now typical for churches in Kutná Hora and Louny), but it has been discovered from medieval pictures that their use was more common, and Rejt was probably not an exclusive builder of them.[2] His direct pupil was Jacob Haylmann von Schweinfurt, who worked with him in Kutná Hora and Annaberg.[1]

Work (with his important participation)

Prague Castle

  • Vladislav Hall, the largest medieval vaulted secular room in Europe, completed in 1500
    Ludvík Wing (Louis Palace), considered to be the first Renaissance building in Bohemia (with examples in Italy), later the place of the Second Defenestration of Prague
    Knight's Stairway with an original vault arrangement
  • Fortification with the towers of Mihulka and Daliborka (the jail of Bedřich Smetana's opera Dalibor)
  • Plans for completing St. Vitus Cathedral, begun but discontinued

Bohemia

Outside Bohemia

Work of more disputable authorship

Buildings usually assigned to Johannes Spiess (Hans, Hanuš)

Property of Půta Švihovský of Rýzmberk

Property of Zdeněk Lev of Rožmitál

Others

  • Virgin Mary Chapel (donated by Viktorin Špulíř) in the Church of the Assumption in Jindřichův Hradec, completed in 1506[6]
  • Virgin Mary Chapel on Náměť in Kutná Hora, the burial place of Petr Brandl, assigned to Master Blažek from Kutná Hora[6]
  • The vault of the Church of the Assumption in Ústí nad Labem, damaged in WWII[6]
  • The castle in Březnice, fortification after 1531[4]

Beneš of Louny

In the 19th century, Czech patriots made efforts to claim that Benedikt Rejt had Czech or Bohemian ancestry. In many sources from that time he is referred to under the name Beneš of Louny, e.g., in the Hall of Fame in the 1891 building of National Museum in Prague. According to tradition, he was buried in St. Nicholas Church in Louny. In 1906, Zikmund Winter concluded the discussion with convincing evidence that Rejt was of German origin and that he learnt Czech as fluently as German, as he could be considered Czech (his offspring identified with Czech nationality).[2]

Legacy

A gallery and a square are named after Rejt in Louny. There is also a 20th-century statue of Benedikt Rejt holding a plumb line.

  • St. Barbara's Church in Kutná Hora
    St. Barbara's Church in Kutná Hora
  • Church of St. Nicholas in Louny
    Church of St. Nicholas in Louny
  • Vladislav Hall at Prague Castle
    Vladislav Hall at Prague Castle
  • Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Most
    Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Most

Notes

  1. ^ also known as Benedikt Rieth, Benedikt Reyd, or Benedict Reijt. In Czech, he often has the epithet "of Pístov" [a village in the Czech Republic or on the Piesting?] or "of Louny"

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Václav Mencl: Architektura, in: Pozdně gotické uměnív Čechách, Odeon Prague 1978 (in Czech)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Pavel Kalina: Benedikt Ried a počátky zaalpské renesance, Academia Prague 2009, ISBN 978-80-200-1744-4 (in Czech)
  3. ^ a b ed. Emanuel Poche: Umělecké památky Čech 2, Academia Prague 1978
  4. ^ a b ed. Emanuel Poche: Umělecké památky Čech 4, Academia Prague 1982
  5. ^ a b ed. Emanuel Poche: Umělecké památky Čech 3, Academia Prague 1980
  6. ^ a b c ed. Zdeněk Wirth: Dějepis výtvarného umění v Čechách, I. díl Středověk, Prague 1931

Further reading

  • Pavel Kalina: European Diplomacy, Family Strategies, and the Origins of Renaissance Architecture in Central and Eastern Europe.Artibus et Historiae. Vol. 30, No. 60 (2009), pp. 173–190
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