Olomouc Law Book

The Olomouc Law Book or Commemorative Book of Olomouc (shelfmark SOk AO, cod. Knihy, 1540) is an illuminated manuscript created for the city of Olomouc around 1430 and currently in the municipal archives. Although in the past attributed to the local copyist Václav of Jihlava (1398–1477) or to the illustrator Vaněk, a town councilor in 1435–39, the illumination is more likely the masterwork of a foreign artist. It is in the style of International Gothic with clear Austrian influence.^[2]

The Emperor Charles IV (centre), surrounded by his sons: King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (left) and Margrave Jobst of Moravia (right). They are all shown with the symbols of rule and their characteristic beards. Charles wears a closed crown, Wenceslaus an open one and Jobst a margravial hat.^[1]

References

1. Robert Antonín, The Ideal Ruler in Medieval Bohemia (Leiden: Brill, 2017), p. 311.
2. Jan Royt, Medieval Painting in Bohemia (Charles University: Karolinum Press, 2003), pp. 131–32.