Danube Pastorale

Martin Lettrich / 2005 – 2006

Between 2003 and 2006, Classicist-style Kern House, which is located on the southwest corner of Rybárska Brána Street and Hviezdoslav Square on the site of former city fortifications and an older house, underwent a comprehensive renovation and adaptation led by the architects Vladimír Vršanský and Pavol Senecký. Conversion of the attic of this national cultural monument into luxury housing required the creation of new openings that would provide natural light to the attic space. Among other works, a large triangular pediment (gable extension) with a glass tympanum was added above the cornice of the façade facing Rybárska Brána Street. Additionally, the triangular brick tympanum facing Hviezdoslav Square was replaced with glass panels that were complemented by the work Danube Pastorale by the sculptor Martin Lettrich. 

  

The scene, which Lettrich created in collaboration with the architect Vladimír Vršanský (architectural context) and the docent Palo Mach (fish made of fused glass), was created along with other artistic elements at the request of the building’s then owner, who financed the restoration and renovation. As the title of the work suggests, it depicts an idyllic scene celebrating life along the Danube River: at the centre of the tympanum, a stylised aluminium sculpture of a heron hovers above aluminium waves in which two fish, depicted in fused glass as abstract reliefs, shimmer in various colours to the left and right. 

PB

Research status as of 16. 07. 2024.


Authorship

Co-authorship


Years

  • 2005 – 2006 – implementation

Type

Material

aluminium, glass

Technique

casting, welding

Dimensions

unidentified

Inscription

unidentified

Condition

  • preserved, maintained

Registration

  • Part of National Cultural Monument number 34 in the Central List of Monuments of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic.

Owner

  • CHT, s. r. o.

Administrator

  • CHT, s. r. o.

Address

26 Hviezdoslav Square

Location details

in the tympanum of the pediment above the cornice

Plot number

310

GPS

48.1423430, 17.1091970

Other works in the area

Drinking Fountain

Alexander Bilkovič 1988

Čumil (Rubbernecker)

Viktor Hulík 1997

Candle Demonstration Monument

Patrik Kovačovský 2008

Carlton Fountain

Jozef Danák 2007 – 2008