Even though music became the mainstay of cultural life in the town during the oppressive war years, art also had a role to play. In 1940, a competition was held for the design of a monument to Alois Jirásek to be placed before the grammar school building where Jirásek had worked. The creation of such a monument had been debated five years earlier, as evidenced by records dating back to 1935 when the intention to erect one in 1941 to commemorate the ninetieth anniversary of Jirásek's birth was first mentioned.
In spite of the fact that the jury, which included Ladislav Šaloun and Zdeněk Wirth, chose a design by Myslbek's pupil Karel Okorný (1891-1962), it was the design that came second by Vincenc Makovský, also one of Myslbek's pupils, that was finally carried out (Pokorný's design was eventually carried out in Prague in Jiráskovo Square in 1960). Makovský placed the bronze figure of the writer, depicted at an advanced age, into an armchair of robust proportions whose sides were decorated with relief scenes – a ball with dancing couples (on the right), the revolutionary year 1848 featuring figures with a flag and a sabre (on the left), and a figure closing a gate featuring the Czech lion (at the rear). The Brno architect Bohuslav Fuchs designed a Minimalist raised platform for the statue in front of the old building of the grammar school. The statue was to have been unveiled in 1944, but the wartime situation made this impossible.
Renewed attempts were made after the war under the auspices of the Ministry of Education's Governmental Commission for the Celebration of Jirásek. The society responsible for the construction of the monument to Alois Jirásek, after consultation with Zdeněk Nejedlý (a member of the Governmental Commission and ardent devotee of the writer) decided to place the monument in the park on the so-called Jewish Hill near to the former building of the grammar school. This meant that due to this change, the pedestal designed by Fuchs could not be used. However, the present-day pedestal excels architectonically. Although there are no records as to its authorship, Makovský himself is traditionally considered to have been its creator. The pedestal is composed of polished granite blocks, incrementally stepped back, bearing a cast script in the form of Jirásek's signature at the front and, at the rear, a hewn, gilded script reading “Alois Jirásek Litomyšl town 1951”.
The foundation stone for the monument was laid in 1951. However, its unveiling did not take place until eight years later (1959) on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the promotion of Litomyšl to town status – the completion of the work being delayed due to Makovský's more urgent commitments, later due to ill health, and finally, due to work being held up by a lack of finances.
