Fifty designs are competing for the likeness of the statue of John of Luxembourg

Brno - A total of fifty designs was submitted for the competition for the statue of John of Luxembourg, announced by the Brno magistrate. The deadline for submissions was Friday after noon. Zbyněk Šolc, secretary of the civic association Jošt Moravský, which initiated the event, informed ČTK. The statue is to be installed in Moravské náměstí in October 2010 on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of John of Luxembourg's election as King of the Romans.
    "The judging committee will meet on May 14 to determine the rankings and select the winner whose design the equestrian statue will be based on," said Šolc.
    A public collection has also been established for the creation of the statue of the Moravian ruler, which currently has 1.4 million crowns. The Brno magistrate will contribute ten million crowns. According to the competition guidelines, the work should commemorate John of Luxembourg (1351 to 1411) as the King of the Romans and Margrave of Moravia. The main idea, according to the association, is to pay tribute to an important figure who influenced the shape of present-day Moravia through his life.
    "This is the largest sculpture project being realized in post-revolutionary Brno. It is an exceptionally difficult task. The statue needs to be incorporated into the square's space, in addition to which an equestrian statue is a type that is not commonly used," said Martin Reissner, head of the cultural department, to ČTK earlier. According to him, the number of equestrian statues that have been created in Europe in the last two decades could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
    The difficulties of the competition are also reflected in the rewards. If the jury awards the first prize, the recipient will receive a half-million crown honorarium. The second and third places will receive 100,000 crowns less each.
    Brno is likely to see more statues added. Since last year, the Zelný trh has been adorned by a statue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Kurt Gebauer, and a work commemorating Thomas Alva Edison is scheduled to appear near the Mahen Theatre. There are expected to be ten statues from the project Statues for Brno, and resistance fighters are also advocating for a statue of Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš to be placed near the Faculty of Law.