Matthias of Arras (c.1290–1352), sometimes spelled as Matthew of Arras ( cs, Matyáš z Arrasu, german: Matthias von Arras, french: Mathieu d'Arras) was a French architect, famed for his work on St. Vitus Cathedral in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Matthias was born in

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

, but little else is known about his early life. In 1344 he was summoned to Prague from the papal court of

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

by Charles IV to lead works on the newly founded Saint Vitus Cathedral. He is also widely recognized as the architect of

Karlstein Castle Karlstein may refer to places in: ; Germany: * Karlstein am Main, a municipality in Landkreis Aschaffenburg, Bavaria * part of Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria ** a rock with a ruin there * Karlstein bei Hornberg, a rock in Hornberg, Baden-Württemberg * ...

, although this fact is not fully authenticated. His involvement in the design of the New Town of Prague is also not completely certain. When Matthias died at

in 1352, Saint Vitus Cathedral was not yet completed. The role of its master mason and Charles' head architect fell to then twenty-three years old

Peter Parler Peter Parler (german: Peter von Gemünd, cs, Petr Parléř, la, Petrus de Gemunden in Suevia; 1333 – 13 July 1399) was a German-Bohemian architect and sculptor from the Parler family of master builders. Along with his father, Heinrich Parler, ...

Literature

* Mencl Václav: Czech Architecture of the Luxemburg Period, Artia, Prague, 1955 * České umění gotické, Prague, 1970 * V. Mencl: Poklasická gotika jižní Francie a Švábska a její vztah ke gotice české. In ''Umění'' 19, 1971, page 217. * A. Merhautová: Katedrála sv. Víta v Praze, Prague 1994 * Y. Gallet: "Autoportrait et représentation de soi au Moyen Âge : le cas de Matthieu d’Arras à la cathédrale de Prague", In: Le Moyen Âge, t. 122-1 : Autoportrait et représentation de l’individu, 2016, p. 41-65. * Y. Gallet: "L’escalier d’Ulrich von Ensingen à la cathédrale de Strasbourg et ses rapports avec l’œuvre de Matthieu d’Arras à la cathédrale de Prague", In: J. Chlíbec and Z. Opačić (eds.), Setkávání. Studie o středověkém umění věnované Kláře Benešovské, Prague, Artefactum / Ústav dějin umění, 2015, p. 97-109. * Y. Gallet: "Matthieu d’Arras et l’Alsace. Les relations architecturales entre les cathédrales de Strasbourg et Prague avant Peter Parler", In: Bulletin de la cathédrale de Strasbourg, XXX, 2012, p. 19-40.

References

1290 births 1352 deaths 14th-century French architects 14th-century Bohemian people French Roman Catholics Gothic architects French expatriates in the Czech Republic People from Arras Burials at St. Vitus Cathedral {{CzechRepublic-architect-stub

Literature

See also

References