Silver coin 200 Kč 2024 Karel Škréta stand
Silver coin 200 Kč 2024 Karel Škréta stand
The product can also be purchased directly in the stores of the Czech Mint
Product description
The silver coin of the Czech National Bank with a nominal value of 200 CZK, which was minted in standard quality, was issued on the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the death of the painter Karel Škréta.
Karel Škréta's adolescence was happy. He came from a patrician family in Prague, and although he lost his father when he was only three years old, he got a great humanistic upbringing. Thanks to his uncle, who was the mintmaster in Kutná Hora, he learned several languages and excelled in painting. But then came the blow. After the defeat of the Protestant Bohemian Estates in the Battle of White Mountain, Škréta's Protestant family became victims of widespread persecution and the eighteen-year-old painter had to go into exile. However, he soon turned the tragedy into an opportunity. He found his way to German lands, Switzerland and finally to Italy, where he fell in love with the emerging Baroque style. After making the most of his ten-year stay abroad, he returned to his homeland. A pragmatic man of purpose, he did not hesitate to bow his head and submit - he converted to the Catholic faith, succeeded in restitution disputes in record time, and came into possession of a vast family fortune. He became not only wealthy, but also a respected man. He brought to the heart of Europe a new style, ornate and powerful, which underlined the position of the Habsburgs and the Catholic Church - the new masters of the Bohemian land. He decorated their palaces, monasteries and churches. Under his hands, precise portraits of the contemporary elite, mythological and allegorical compositions, still lifes of bourgeois households and emotive altarpieces were created. In his painting workshop, which was one of the largest in Prague, he employed a number of apprentices and journeymen. He kept pace with progressive Italian art, while remaining intensely personal. He is deservedly considered to be the founder of the Czech Baroque...
The design of the commemorative coin was based on an artwork by the academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů. The expert committee of the Czech National Bank appreciated especially "the quality portrait of Karel Škréta and the detailed rendering of the image of the Holy Family with the motif of the three saints St. Barbara, St. Catherine and St. Dorothy."
The exclusive producer of Czech coins - both commemorative and circulation coins - is the Czech Mint in Jablonec nad Nisou.