THE CLEMENTINUM
The Clementinum is a former Jesuit college and one of the largest building
complexes in
the Old Town. It was founded on the site of a former Dominican monastery by
Jesuits
summoned to Prague in 1556 at the instigation of the Emperor Ferdinand I. The
main
front of the college faces on to Krizovnicke‚ Square and contains the Church of St.
Salvatore and the oldest wing. After its foundation in 1578- 1581 the church's
first
stage was the sanctuary, followed in 1600-1601 by the nave and side aisles, which
were
completed by Carlo Lurago in 1638-1640. In 1648-1649 the dome was raised, to the
design of Francesco Caratti, and the towers in 1714 by Frantisek Maxmilian Kanka,
who
was very active in other parts of the Clementinum. The portico was erected in
1651 -
1653 and adorned in 1659 with sculptures by Jiri Bendl, whose workshop also
carried
out the stucco decoration of the church interior. The sculptures above the
confessionals
are also Bendl's work. The altar paintings are by Jan Jiri Heintsch, Jan Jiri
Hering
and other early baroque artists. At the eastern end of the sanctuary there is a
small
central structure, the Italian Chapel, erected between 1590 and 1600 probably
by the
Italian architect Domenico Bossi for the spiritual needs of the large Italian
community
resident in Prague. The third sacred edifice of the complex is the Church of
St. Clement
built in 1711-1715. The interior has high baroque sculptural de‚cor by Mayas
Bernard Braun and his school, fine frescos by Jan Hiebl and altar paintings by
Petr
Brandl, Ignac Raab and others. Dominating the whole college is the astronomical
tower
with its crowning figure of Atlas, erected by F. M. Kanka (1721-1723). Among the
outstanding rooms of the interior are the former summer refectory with pictures by
Krystof Taus on the main walls (now the central reading room), and the Mirror
Chapel
with murals by J. Hiebl and framed pictures by Vaclav Vavrinec Reiner. Baroque
halls
on the upper floor are also worthy of note, e.g. the Library Hall, the Mozart
Hall, the
Mathematics and Manuscript Rooms, all decorated with murals and stucco. The
college halls and their immediate surroundings have witnessed many historical
events,
ranging from the defence mounted by the students under the leadership of the
Jesuit Jiri
Plachy against the Swedes in 1648 to the revolutionary turbulence of 1848, when
for a
short while, the students held captive their rector, Count Lev Thun. After the
Jesuit
order was suppressed in 1773 the Clementinum was given over to an archiepiscopal
seminary and in 1800 part of the complex was made available to the Academy of
Drawing. In 1928 - 1932 the building was adapted by the architect Ladislav Machon
for
the use of the National and University Library. It contains many priceless
manuscripts
and incunabulae.