Prague offers a contrast to the study of visual arts in Florence, Paris, and Vienna. One contrast is in the monuments which we will visit. The chief monuments will be the medieval and Renaissance synagogues of Prague. In these monuments, students will see a tradition of Western architecture which is related to the Christian churches which we will have visited. Yet these structures are shaped by a different liturgy and incorporate different symbolism. The chief art works that we will see will consist of public sculptures in the city of Prague and of art works associated with the Holocaust. These sculptures are clustered on Charles Bridge and in the public squares of Prague. As public works, they are intended to promote idealized religious, social and political messages. We will discuss their impact upon the citizens of Prague, including the monuments that represent the Velvet Revolution. And we will discuss the meaning of the dismantlement of the world's largest statue of Stalin and its replacement with the world's largest metronome as visual expressions of public ideals. We will view Holocaust art in the Jewish Museum of Prague and in the Museum of Teresienstadt. We will see the childrens' art from Teresienstadt, the survivors' art at Teresienstadt and the contemporary art from the second and third generation of survivors. These art works open topics including the power of images, the role of images to bear testimony to history and the function of images in creating dialogue between different groups and different individuals. The art works also open questions about the identity of artists-whether art making is shared by all individuals or restricted to only a few. Finally, I would like to stress the city of Prague itself is a kind of open-air museum in its preservation of all historical periods of architectural styles and building types.
Mozart's career began in Salzburg, included tours of Italy, Germany, France, and England, and in 1781 he settled in Vienna where he spent the last ten years of his life. During this final decade, his second city was Prague, where The Marriage of Figaro achieved its greatest success and which led to a commission for his darkest opera, Don Giovanni. The people of Prague are very aware of their connection with Mozart, and his music can be heard in concert and in the jewel-like opera house almost every night of the week. Prague was also home to indigenous Czech or Bohemian composers of the 19th and 20th centuries: Smetana, Dvorak, Janacek and Martinu. There are museusm (former residences) in Prague devoted to Smetana and Dvorak. There is also a type of theatre in Prague which is indigenous to the city, the "Black Light". It is not directly related to art or music, but it does reflect the culture of the area, and is an amazing and delightful theatrical experience.