Why go
The Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karlštejn contains medieval painted panels attributed to Master Theodoric. In Prague, National Theatre decoration reflects the nineteenth-century Czech cultural revival. Mucha's Slav Epic looks back across Slavic history, while František Kupka marks a turn toward abstraction. These examples make the shifts in style and purpose easier to see.
The full story
At Karlštejn Castle, the painted panels in the Chapel of the Holy Cross connect medieval art to the court of Charles IV and Master Theodoric. Prague later became an important setting for changing artistic styles, from Gothic work to Baroque commissions. Petr Brandl is one name to recognize in Bohemian late Baroque painting. In the nineteenth century, artists helped decorate the National Theatre as part of the Czech cultural revival; its interior makes that public role visible. Alfons Mucha is often introduced through his Art Nouveau commercial images, yet he regarded the Slav Epic, a cycle on Slavic history, as a major work. František Kupka points toward abstraction rather than historical storytelling. Follow those contrasts across a castle chapel, a civic theatre and later galleries: the art shifts from devotion to national expression to experiments in form.