Saint Maurice

Theodoric of Prague's Saint Maurice is part of the extraordinary painted cycle for the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karlštejn Castle, commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV around 1360. The choice of Saint Maurice — a legendary Roman soldier-saint and patron of the Holy Roman Empire — underscores the imperial ideology embedded in the chapel's decorative programme. Theodoric's inclusion of this military saint among the chapel's 129 panel paintings reflects Charles IV's deliberate connection of his imperial authority to the tradition of Christian warrior-saints.

Tempera on panel with Theodoric's signature volumetric modelling, rendering the saint with monumental physical presence and unusually naturalistic facial features. The broad, almost sculptural treatment of form distinguishes the Bohemian school from the more linear approach of contemporary Italian and French Gothic painting.