Throughout the 20th century, the House of the Knights underwent a multitude of sensitive renovations and restoration interventions, during which, Renaissance features were uncovered in the interior which itself was transformed into an exhibition space. Presently, it is the home of the Town Gallery in Litomyšl which holds short-term art exhibitions there.
As is the case with most of the houses in Litomyšl town square, this house, probably built in 1546, is slotted into a long and narrow Gothic building plot and is an integral part of a terrace of buildings. It ranks among some of the oldest and highly-prized town buildings and is one of the many gems of Renaissance town architecture in Bohemia, thanks above all to its original preserved facade and interior features. The facade is decorated with figural reliefs, dominated by the figures of two knights from which the name of the building is derived. The name was coined by the writer Alois Jirásek – the original name being Zlaté truby (Golden Horns). Along with the two knights, embracing columns, there are two figures of men in period civilian clothing, one holding a book, the other a purse. The front of the building features relief-work of fantasy animals and ornamental motifs. The style of the facade is attributed to the artistic circle of the Court of Pernštej in Pardubice. Due to its artistic significance, the building was awarded National Heritage status in 1958, in spite of losing a little of its original Renaissance appearance as a result of various Empirical-style modifications.
As a result of heavy traffic through the town square, the stability of the building suffered and subsequently, from 1962-63, the first systematically recorded renovation work had to be carried out – mainly on the stone facade of the building. At the same time, three of the pillars in the arcades were replaced with tamped, artificial stone ones. This task was entrusted to the sculptor Olbram Zoubek. One of the original pillars can be seen today in the Regional Museum in Litomyšl.
Up to the beginning of the 1970s, the building served as accommodation. After, from 1975 to 1977, extensive reconstruction work was carried out. This was to enable the installation of a permanent exhibition dedicated to the painter Josef Matička, a condition stipulated by the artist himself who bestowed a large collection of his own paintings to the town along with a part of his own collection of Czech artwork of the first half of the 20th century. During the restoration, an early Renaissance coffered ceiling, a sedile between the windows and, flanking the windows, early Renaissance pillars with capitals richly decorated with vegetal motifs were discovered in the first-floor room overlooking the street. The exceptional character of the finds is heightened by the presence of preserved fragments of their original polychrome finish. Once again, Olbram Zoubek was entrusted with the task of carrying out the restoration work. He is also the author of the plaque with the inscription: GALERIE JOSEFA MATIČKY installed at the entrance to the gallery. However, it has never been officially recognised.
The last restoration work on the facade was carried in 2000. It was undertaken by students of what is today the Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice and lead by Jindřich Plotica. The stone features were reinforced and cleaned, and missing parts were recreated and attached.
Presently, the town has a project prepared for the reconstruction of the gallery, which would also incorporate the hitherto unused rear tract of the building. This restoration, originally planned in the 1970s, was however, never carried out. The present-day design is by the Brno design studio Kuba & Pilař architekti.
ZT
