Ladislav Šaloun is a sculptor, the author of the sculptural decoration of the façade of the main building of the Prague City Museum.
Ladislav Šaloun is a sculptor whose work includes part of the decoration of the main building of the Prague City Museum on Na Poříčí. The Neo-Renaissance building was constructed between 1896 and 1898 and opened to the public in 1900.[1] The museum was founded in 1883 and its collections were first housed in a former café pavilion in the park on Na Poříčí. [1] The design of the Neo-Renaissance building was drawn up by the architect Antonín Balšánek, who followed up on an earlier commission given to Antonín Wiehl. [1]
Šaloun created the relief in the tympanum in the middle of the main façade, on the theme of history, science, art and crafts as the glory of the past. His allegorical figure of Prague at the top of the tympanum dates from 1896. This statue was shot down by a German tank during the May Uprising in 1945. [1] A copy based on a model from Šaloun's estate was made in 1985 by Miloslav Šonka.[1] Other sculptural decoration of the building was created, for example, by František Stránský, Vojtěch Šaff and František Hergesel. [1] The stucco decoration of the building's interior was created by Vilém Amort. [1]