Dům Bohuslava Schnircha Tenement house

Dům Bohuslava Schnircha on Mikovcov Street in Prague Vinohrady stands as an important example of Czech neo-Renaissance architecture in the second half of the 19th century. Built in 1875, it became the first realized building in Prague, according to the designs of the great architect Antonín Wiehl and a pioneering building decorated with graphic decoration.

The house was shaped by sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch, who had it built but had a major influence on its visual solution. Antonín Wiehl first prepared three variants of the project. The original proposal from 1874, which was preserved in Wiehl's estate, was strongly influenced by the Italian Renaissance and drew inspiration from the Florentine palaces of Quadagni and Riccardi with their characteristic boasts, window shapes and with graphic friezes. The implemented proposal from 1875 was based on these motives, but it was significantly more modest and simpler.

The house grows as a two-storey flat house with five axes oriented to Mikovka Street. There were apartments on the first and second floors, studios and shops on the ground floor. The ground floor is decorated with flat rustics and barefoot portals. The implementation was carried out by Josef Martin and Jan Zeyer, who also cooperated with Wiehl on the project.

The exceptional value of the house creates a sgraffite decoration designed by the builder Schnirch himself. Sgraphite strip takes place between the first and second floors and produces complex composition. In the center, the class of the Art Temple surrounded by figural parades. From the left comes the Bachelor Parade of Satyrs and dancers mainad with music, cars with Dionysus and Silene. The report goes through the procession - women with vessels, elders leading the bull and ram sacrifice, followed by young men on rising horses. The temple features a female figure symbolizing Art with cherubim-bearing tables that depict four arts: painting, sculpture, construction and music. The head of Medusa is located under the temple in a stucco above the main entrance. Another sgraffite with eight amory is located above the middle window of the first floor. Sgraffite was performed by architect Jan Zeyer according to Schnirch's designs.

The house became a pioneering work in the application of rich sgraffiti decoration to Prague tenement houses and its creation was greatly influenced by further development of stylization of rental houses in Prague. It is listed as a cultural monument and belongs to the most interesting buildings of Prague's neo-Renaissance architecture of the 19th century.