“Pietá” by Anna Chromy
Since 1999, this low-key yet a bit mysterious sculpture at the southern archway of the Cathedral has caused attention and the odd relieved outcry.
In 1999, Prague artist Anna Chromy created her Pietá, a very popular and highly photographed sculpture. She was commissioned to do so by Archbishop Georg Eder, drawing inspiration from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Jedermann”.
In the hollow figure, observers may very well see Death – or the opposite, namely that which remains. The inscription on the base reads: “The empty mantle as a symbol of that which survives us: the love we gave, the works we created, the suffering we bore.” The empty “Cloak of Conscience” is this artist’s most popular work, with other examples to be found in Prague, Athens as well as Monaco.
