The Slav Epic

The Slav Epic by Alfons Mucha is a cycle of twenty impressive paintings depicting the history of the Slav people and civilization. He found inspiration for this work in Slavonic mythology and the history of the Czech people. The largest canvas is more than six by eight meters (20 x 26 ft). Mucha (1860-1939) is especially famous for his illustrations for posters and magazines in Art Nouveau style. Yet. his passion was elsewhere: the Slav Epic to which creation he devoted almost twenty years. A legal battle was going on for several years. Both Prague and Moravský Krumlov, a town in South Moravia, claimed that Mucha’s artwork belonged to them. This wrangling has now come to an end as the Slavic Epic is given a new home in the Savarin Palace in Prague.