Thread by @cinemashoebox

devastated to learn that Alfons Mucha's batshit painting cycle THE SLAV EPIC is not presently on public display. here they are in a thread tho, with authentic batshit full titles

1: The Slavs in their Original Homeland: Between the Turanian Whip and the Sword of the Goths

Mucha spent almost 20 years on these and considered them his masterpiece, but they've sort of fall out of his legacy as we now understand it, which is...a shame

2: The Celebration of Svantovit: When Gods Are at War, Salvation is in the Arts

One of my fav things about them is that he evidently had trouble working out how to fill the immense canvases (these things are several metres high) so he's just like "fuck it, floating Slavs"

3: The Introduction of the Slavonic Liturgy: Praise the Lord in Your Native Tongue

I saw these in Prague a few years ago but they're the subject of a long-running legal dispute that I cannot pretend to even begin to understand so are apparently hidden away again

4: The Bulgarian Tsar Simeon: The Morning Star of Slavonic Literature

Also, the hats

5: The Czech King Přemysl Otakar II: The Union of Slavic Dynasties

6: The Coronation of the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan as East Roman Emperor: The Slavic Code of Law

As you can tell, they all have a title and a subtitle and they are frequently amazing in themselves

7: Jan Milíč of Kroměříž: A Brothel Converted to a Convent

8: Master Jan Hus Preaching at the Bethlehem Chapel: Truth Prevails

9: The Meeting at Křížky: Sub Utraque

Don't ask me about any of the historical events depicted here, please, I know nothing

10: After the Battle of Grunwald: The Solidarity of the Northern Slavs

Every one of these is a potential metal album cover and title

11: After the Battle of Vítkov Hill: God Represents Truth, Not Power

12: Petr Chelčický at Vodňany: Do Not Repay Evil with Evil

13: The Hussite King Jiří of Poděbrady: Treaties Are to Be Observed

also, yes, the politics here are a bit, umm, hmm. i mean, it is called THE SLAV EPIC

14: Defense of Sziget against the Turks by Nicholas Zrinsky: The Shield of Christendom

this one is more chill

15: The Printing of the Bible of Kralice in Ivančice: God Gave Us a Gift of Language

16: The Last days of Jan Amos Komenský in Naarden: A Flicker of Hope

as the cycle nears its end, it all goes a bit floating Slavs again

17: Holy Mount Athos: Sheltering the Oldest Orthodox Literary Treasures

18: The Oath of Omladina Under the Slavic Linden Tree: The Slavic Revival

i know they're Russians but you'd think they could look a *bit* happy about the news

19: The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia: Work in Freedom is the Foundation of a State

FULL FLOATING SLAV MADNESS ACHIEVED (feat. US flag because the funding for these paintings mostly came from Czech, Polish etc communities in the US)

20: Apotheosis of the Slavs: Slavs for Humanity

anyway, that was fun: this gives some sense of their scale. hopefully they'll be on show again somewhere sometime soon