V. J. ROTT, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Malé náměstí is a small triangular square that adjoins the Old Town Square. One of the houses standing in the square is a house that has V. J. Rott written in capital letters on it, which is why it is also called the House at the Rott. In 1850 the house was bought by the family of Vincenc Josef Rott. His son Ladislav then had the house rebuilt as a department store at the end of the 19th century. Therefore, various professions (blacksmith, carpenter, gardener) are displayed on the facade of the house, which is supplemented by the inscription “Saint Wenceslas don`t let us perish, nor our descendants”, which are the words of the Saint Wenceslas Chorale from the 12th century. The author of the sgraffito is one of the most important Czech painters of that time, Mikoláš Aleš. It is known that he didn`t physically participate in the creation of sgraffito because he suffered from dizziness and therefore could not climb the scaffolding. He therefore created the templates according to which the sgraffito was created. In 1948, of course, the house and the company were taken over by the Communists and the Rott family emigrated.