Lužanská mše IV. - Mecenáš v obnošené vestě – Stýblová Valja (2021)

The novel 'The Patron in a Worn Vest' is about the greatest Czech patron, Josef Hlávka. His artistic and personal life from early childhood is captured by Valja Stýblová in the work 'Lužanská mše'. In her new novel, Hlávka appears as a retired patron in a worn vest, who has already had an extraordinarily fruitful life not only in the number of buildings he constructed in Vienna, Chernivtsi, Prague, Italy, and elsewhere. He was also one of the last prominent architects of church temples. He earned a fairy-tale fortune through his work as an architect and builder, overcame a treacherous illness that left him in a wheelchair, and stood on his own feet again. He was widowed twice and lived in his castle in Přeštice. It is during this time that Valja Stýblová's new novel begins. Hlávka performs an act that has no parallel in Czech society and requires much contemplation to understand. Hlávka managed to establish and build the Czech Academy of Sciences. He obtained the signature of Emperor Franz Joseph on the founding document and financed the activities of the scientific institution from his own money. This sparked much envy, distrust, and suspicion that Hlávka was merely playing at something. But he truly gave everything he had to his foundation and lived so modestly that those around him saw it as eccentricity. His wealth for...