St. Stephan (Prague)
The St. Stephen's Church ( Kostel sv. Štěpána ) is a church in the Czech capital Prague .
It was built between 1351 and 1394 as the parish church of the newly settled areas in the upper new town. Its floor plan with the two-bay choir with a polygonal end and the four-bay nave is similar to that of the St. Heinrichs Church , but was built as a three-aisled basilica - albeit with very high side aisles . In St. Stephen's Church, too, the tower was originally supposed to be built over the southwest side aisle yoke, but the plan was changed during construction and a prismatic tower was added in the axis of the church on the west facade, which is first mentioned in 1401.
In 1668 a baroque chapel (the so-called Kornelkapelle) was added on the south side and in 1736 the chapel on the north side for the Branberger family. The neo-Gothic porch dates from 1866. Josef Mocker re- gothicised the church from 1876–1879, but the Gothic state was restored during the next restoration in 1934–1936. The church underwent another restoration in 1974/75.
As for the interior, besides the Madonna, there is the epitaph by the printer M. Peterle from Annaberg on the front wall of the left aisle, which was painted by Bartholomäus Spranger in 1580 . The baroque furnishings come from the 17th and 18th centuries, the paintings were made by Karel Škréta . The Baroque sculptor Matthias Bernhard Braun (1684–1738) was buried near the Kornel Chapel.
The most important piece of equipment, however, is the Madonna of St. Stephen, which stands on the Rococo altar from 1755 on the northern pillar closest to the choir. The 70 by 61 cm picture was painted with tempera on limewood, a canvas background cannot be determined. It is in good condition with minor retouching. Only the golden areas were often painted over with bronze. In 1878 it was restored and the painting on the back front and most of the later overpainting removed. It is a Gothic picture of the Madonna in the original frame and with eight miniature frames, belonging to the famous group depicting the Bohemian loving Mother of God. The miniatures show eight scenes from the life of Mary and the childhood of Christ ( Annunciation , Visitation of Mary , Birth of Jesus, Circumcision, Adoration of the Magi, Presentation of Jesus in the Temple , Descent of the Holy Spirit, Death of Mary). The Maria with child follows the Raudnitz Madonna (around 1380) with the exception of small details. For example, it has a square instead of a round coat clasp (agraffe) like the Madonna of Budějovice, which is more common. The date 1472 on the back most likely does not indicate the period of origin, as the picture is stylistically dated to the second third of the 15th century (around 1440).
The church is one of the parish and cemetery churches in the New Town of Prague .
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Coordinates: 50 ° 4 ′ 34.9 " N , 14 ° 25 ′ 29.6" E