The Choir Triforium of Prague Cathedral Revisited: The Inscriptions and Beyond

Twenty-one portrait busts in the choir triforium of St Vitus's Cathedral in Prague are surmounted by inscriptions giving the name, status and deeds of the person represented. It has been known for some time that the inscription above the bust of the architect and sculptor Peter Parler contains puzzling errors. This contribution undertakes an analysis of the inscriptions as a single written source. Mistakes were found in one third of the inscriptions, as well as surprising omissions. Stratigraphic analysis of the polychromy revealed that the ochre ground under the inscriptions was also painted over the polychromy of the busts, which in turn bad been painted over the deteriorated sculptures. The inscriptions should therefore not be considered a definitive source for the 14th century and may have been written in their present form in the 18th century in an attempt to restore the original lettering. The inscription above the bust of Charles IV has been one of the main sources for scholars who wished to attribute the arrangement of some parts of the cathedral to the emperor's personal invention. This article, however, argues in favour of the cathedral chapter as the true builder of the great church.