The Slav Epic in the context of Moravský Krumlov

Alfons Maria Mucha (Czech: [ˈalfons ˈmuxa] ; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylised and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.

In the second part of his career, at the age of 57, he returned to his homeland and devoted himself to a series of twenty monumental symbolist canvases known as The Slav Epic, depicting the history of all the Slavic peoples of the world, which he painted between 1912 and 1926. In 1928, on the 10th anniversary of the independence of Czechoslovakia, he presented the series to the Czech nation. He considered it his most important work.

The Bible of Kralice, also called the Kralice Bible (Czech: Bible kralická), was the first complete translation of the Bible from the original languages into Czech. Translated by the Unity of the Brethren and printed in Kralice nad Oslavou, the first edition had six volumes and was published between 1579 and 1593. The third edition, from 1613, is classic and till this day widely known and used Czech translation. The New Testament had been translated from the Greek by Jan Blahoslav and published in 1564.