The Baptism of St. Vladimir
This unfinished satirical composition was written during Havlíček's involuntary stay in Brixen. Havlíček used the Legends of Ancient Times about the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus by Prince Vladimir I to caricature the despotic state power with its bureaucratic machinery and its obedient church. In it, he attacks the inability of the individual to take charge of his own destiny and to stop relying on help from above, which leads only to mindless obeisance to authority. The latter will punish any expression of dissent.
| Subject: | The 19th Century in Us |
| Author: | Havlíček, Karel |
| Title: | The Baptism of St. Vladimir |
| Date: | 1904 |
| Place of publication: | Prague |
| Publisher: | Nový kult |
| Technique: | illustration by František Gellner |
| Origin: | acquired in 1955 |
| Licence: | Free license |
