The gallery’s premises
The gallery occupies two valuable renaissance townhouses in Jihlava’s historical centre. Both have retained their original layout, with a vaulted Maßhaus on the ground floor and another hall on the first floor. Some of the stonework dates from the 16th century. The renaissance ornamentation of the vault on the first floor of the Komenského ulice house is particularly noteworthy.
Komenského ulice 10
In 1864 two neighbouring houses were joined to create the present building, in a street that leads from the upper side of Masarykovo náměstí. Both houses were built on the long, narrow plots typical of towns and cities in the High Middle Ages. The remains of older houses were destroyed by a fire in 1551, which was followed by new construction.
Of the original building erected after the fire and completed in 1577, the entrance portal, the lower hall or Maßhaus, the two-roomed cellar and the upper hall on the first floor have survived. The upper hall has an octopartite vault, and the late 16th-century painting that decorates the vaulting cells is one of the most interesting remnants of renaissance Jihlava.
In the early 1960s the entire building was reconstructed for use by the gallery.
Masarykovo náměstí 24
The gallery’s second building is on the lower side of Masarykovo náměstí.
Jihlava was founded in the mid-13th century, and shortly thereafter the king issued building regulations that set out the rules for construction. It is therefore assumed that in the Middle Ages a predecessor to the present building stood on the site, but due to frequent fires we do not know how the original gothic building may have looked.
In the 16th century a two-storey house was built here, of which the stone entrance portal, the vaulted hall or Maßhaus on the ground floor, and the hall on the first floor have survived.
The first floor has a valuable flattened barrel vault with lunettes and consoles around the sides, probably from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The use of such a vault in an urban setting is unique.
In the latter half of the 1980s the house was converted for the gallery’s needs.
