0214 The Clementinum. A Baroque Monument in the Capital of Socialist Czechoslovakia

Abstract

The remarkable monument of the Clementinum in the Old Town of Prague involves two basic historical phenomena, namely the Baroque style and Jesuit culture; both contributed in a fundamental way to the character of the material and spiritual culture in the lands of the Bohemian Crown. In the official line of Marxist-Leninist interpretation of history, these phenomena were evaluated critically. Using the example of the representation of the Clementinum, college of the Society of Jesus in Prague, in professional art historical and popular publications, the article explores the strategies of the authors or publishers in dealing with this ideologically precarious heritage during socialism.