Statue of Saint Joseph

Statue of Saint Joseph stands at the foot of the Radnické schody (Aldermen's Steps) in Prague's Hradčany district, directly across from a Baroque statue of St. John of Nepomuk. The sandstone figure, dated to 1714, shows Joseph carrying the infant Jesus in his arms.

Where exactly is the statue?

The statue sits at the bottom of a 127-step staircase that drops roughly 30 metres over less than 100 metres, linking Hradčanské náměstí above with Malá Strana below. Its coordinates are 50.088722, 14.396639. The upper end of the stairs opens onto Loretánská street and Hradčany Square; the lower end meets the junction of Ke Hradu, Nerudova and Úvoz streets in Malá Strana - and it's right there, at the lower end, that the statue stands.

What does the statue look like?

Carved from sandstone, Joseph is shown mid-stride, wrapped in a flowing, deeply folded robe, holding the naked Christ Child. The figure rests on a columned pedestal topped with a profiled capital - a common format for outdoor Baroque sculpture of the period.

What is the statue's history?

The statue was commissioned at the expense of S.A. Herzog. It originally stood beside the carriage road leading up to the castle, on Hradčany Square in front of the Schwarzenberg Palace. In 1820 it was moved to its present spot at the foot of the Aldermen's Steps. The sculptor is not firmly established - some sources attribute the work to F.J. Santini or to a sculptor from O. Most's workshop, though neither attribution can be confirmed with certainty.

What else stands nearby?

Facing Joseph from across the steps is a second Baroque statue, of St. John of Nepomuk, attributed to Michal Brokoff. It's flanked by two cherubs - one making a gesture for silence, the other holding an image of Charles Bridge, a reference to the saint's martyrdom there. Together the two figures form a small but distinctive sculptural ensemble at the entrance to the stairs.

Where does the staircase's name come from?

The stairs took their current name, Radnické schody, in 1870, after the Hradčany Town Hall standing at their top. Before that they carried other names - Vršek masných krámů, Masokrámský vršek or Řeznický vršek - all referring to the butcher stalls once located along them.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same Statue of Saint Joseph as the one on Charles Bridge? No. Charles Bridge has its own, far better-known statue of Saint Joseph, carved by Josef Max. The statue described here stands several hundred metres away, at the foot of the Aldermen's Steps in Hradčany, with a different history and a different (uncertain) sculptor.

When was the statue made? It's dated to 1714.

When did it arrive at its current location? In 1820, when it was moved from its original spot beside the road to the castle.

Is the statue a protected monument? Yes, it's listed as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic and is maintained by the Prague City Gallery (GHMP) as part of the "Art for the City" collection.

How do you get to the statue? The easiest route is down from Hradčany Square via the Aldermen's Steps - the statue stands right at the bottom, next to Ke Hradu street.