With most of the world closed to travel, RFE/RL photo correspondent Amos Chapple has been exploring his home city of Prague -- and hunting down the rooftop characters that have spent many decades and even centuries “self-isolating” above the city’s ancient streets.
The Rooftop Creatures Of Prague
1
A firefighter rescuing a woman from golden flames on the roof of the old Prague Insurance Company building on Prague’s Old Town Square. The dramatic sculpture was one of the last works completed by Czech Bohuslav Schnirch before his death in 1901.
2
A monument to Atlas carrying the “celestial sphere” atop the Clementinum, an ancient complex of buildings that includes a working meteorological station in use since 1775. The Atlas statue was made by Matthias Bernard Braun (1684-1738), who also made several of the sculptures on Prague’s famous Charles Bridge.
3
Black babies clambering on the trunk of the Zizkov Television Tower, the tallest structure in Prague. The 3.5-meter-long babies were made by contemporary Czech artist David Cerny. Each of the bar-code-faced infants weighs around 250 kilograms.
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4
Morning sun on one of four winged female figures that decorate the Cechuv Bridge. The figures, which hold gold-plated wreaths aloft, were made by Antonin Popp (1815–1915).