Lapidary of the National Museum

At the National Museum's Lapidary at the Prague exhibition fairgrounds you can admire the permanent exhibition of stone monuments originating in Bohemia between the 11th and 19th century.

The collection of the Lapidary of the National Museum is very extensive and comprises some 2,000 objects, out of which only the best 400 are exhibited. The majority of stonemasonry and stone sculpture artifacts created between the 11th and 19th century come from the area of Bohemia and mainly Prague. In the first part of the exhibition visitors will learn about mining, use and the processing of rock used in stone sculpture, as well as about treatment of damaged artifacts. In the following part a chronological presentation of works of stonemasons and sculptors follows – portals, tombstones, windows, fountains, garden vases, sculptures, monuments and other objects are exhibited. The most valuable exhibits are sculptures that originally decorated the Charles Bridge, parts of the Renaissance Krocín fountain and remnants of the oldest Marian column in Bohemia from the Old Town Square, sculptures from the Petr Parléř ironworks and others. Also two bronze sculptures of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Marshal Radecký are on display. The exhibits at the Lapidary of the National Museum come from a greater part from buildings demolished during the Prague clearance of the Jewish Town at the turn of the 19th and 20th century, as well as from repaired churches, while other objects lost their original function or were damaged by natural disasters.