ETERNAL SUMMER IN A ROMAN VILLA

Troja Château
Tue – Sun (except Fri) 10.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.,
Fri 1.00 p.m. – 6.00 p.m., garden to 7.00 p.m.
(from June 1, 2010, guided tours of the exposition start every 30 minutes)

Thanks to a recent advice by the curator of the art collections of the Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians at Strahov, the Troja Château gallery has now been able to loan for exhibition the painting, "A Nymph Binding a Satyr", by an anonymous Netherlandish artist of the second half of the 17th century. The large-scale canvas, which was acquired for the Strahov monastery from the collections of the late Václav Vojtěch ze Šternberka, is one of only few artifacts identifiable as part of the chateau´s original interior decoration.
The painting was long believed to be a later, minor work, but restoration carried out by Šárka and Petr Berger, involving detailed research and removal of extensive layers of overpainting, revealed the original painting, a valuable tableau which is now ready for display, to be admired by Troja Château visitors.

The actual story of this unique building was the moment of inspiration for the exhibition "Eternal Summer in a Roman Villa". The point of the new concept was not to insert other semantically closed components into the "magnificent cupboard of a château"; we returned rather to the villa itself, wanting to emphasise and "make visible" its charm, spirit and grace. We adapted the separate exhibition units ("The Architecture and Decoration of the Troja Château", "From Residences of the Aristocracy", "The Picture Gallery of the City Gallery Prague" and "The Chinese Chambers of the Troja Château") to the specific qualities of the château interiors rather than compiling or installing them according to gallery convention, which would have inevitably played down the true nature of the château.

Admission: CZK 120 / 60 / 250