St. Agnes’ Sculpture Installed at Czech Senate

Since July 20, 2011, the Czech Senate building will be graced for a year with the sculpture of St. Agnes of Bohemia which was blessed by the Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka OP on the day of its installment. The sculpture was lent by the Stonemason and Sculptural Trade-School in Hořice whose students made it.

Prague: 'We have decided to place the sculpture of St. Agnes in the Senate to remind us that our country and state relies not only on warriors, but also on saints,' the vice-chair of the Czech Senate Petr Pithart remarked in his introduction. According to senatro Miluše Horská who took the chief initiative in the plan of placing the sculpture of the Premyslid saint in the Senate building, St. Agnes can set a good example to politicians. 'I have only been working in politics for a short time and to me, St. Agnes is a person who was able to give up high rank in order to dedicate herself to others. Such an example may encourage especially those who do not strive for positions – one can see that every one may contribute to the good,' the senator said.

The saint’s sculpture is a work by a trainee of the Stonemason and Sculptural Trade-School in Hořice, Ondřej Čížek. Some time ago, he and his schoolmates were assigned to tackle a challenge prepared by the school leadership. 'I have known professor Piťha for many years. He visited me and told me about St. Agnes’ anniversary this year. He asked me if our school could make a sculpture for the occassion. My responsibility is to assign meaningful tasks to my trainees so we started working right away,' the director of the trade-school, Josef Moravec, explained. In the end, the school made 11 such sculptures, which are being exhibited in different cities and institutions. 'You cannot carve out such a sculpture without knowing who it is about. You need to learn something about the person,' director Moravec said.

The Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka, explained to us the political dimension of St. Agnes’ personality. 'We are used to seeing St. Agnes as a votaress, mother of the sick and poor. It is not well known that this woman was a maker of great ecclesiastical and even political concepts. Her idea of a state was that of 'power to serve',' the archbishop said. 'She re-enthroned her brother. She placed the crown on his head and his son had to kneel down before him, accept his royalty and vow obedience. He later became king too, as Přemysl Otakar II, and uttered the memorable proclamation that St. Agnes was more than his own mother to him. The influence of this woman was simply immense. May she grant her help to the Senate as well.'