Roman References in Early Modern Central European Confessional Architecture

Analysis of the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Czech environment enables study of the specifics of sacred architecture in post-Reformation Europe and, more broadly, of the problem of the “confessionalization” of Early Modern architecture. Several sacred buildings, both Catholic and non- Catholic, were founded with special reference to the remarkable environment of Rome, which, in the sixteenth century, enjoyed renewed vitality as a central source of artistic and religious work. As such, Rome, for various reasons, inspired the churches of two religious groups: Catholics and the Unity of Brethren, a unique denomination in Czech lands. The most remarkable example serves the Unity of Brethren (later called “Rome of the Unity of Brethren” church in Mladá Boleslav, seat of one of the bishoprics). At the same time, ties to Roman prototypes are observed among Catholics in the case of Olomouc, the seat of bishops of Moravia, where “confessional architecture” became a special tool of the Counter-Reformation.