The Meeting at Křížky

Painted in 1916, The Meeting at Křížky depicts a clandestine gathering of Czech Protestant exiles — followers of Jan Hus who continued to practise their faith in secret after the forced re-Catholicisation of Bohemia following the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. Such illegal meetings in forests and remote valleys, known as "hidden churches," sustained Czech Protestant identity for more than a century until the Edict of Toleration in 1781. Mucha chose this intimate scene of nocturnal devotion to represent spiritual resilience — the stubborn survival of conscience against state and ecclesiastical power. The subject connected to ongoing debates about religious freedom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in which Czech Protestants still felt the weight of historical discrimination. As an early Slav Epic canvas, it established the series' recurring theme of suffering endured with collective dignity.

Mucha exploits a nocturnal palette — deep blue-greens, near-black shadows, and a single torch-like source of warm light — to convey both secrecy and spiritual intensity. Oil glazes build soft transitions between shadow and illuminated faces. Figures huddle in a compressed group that creates a sense of vulnerability and solidarity simultaneously. Gestural brushwork in the foliage contrasts with the careful finish on faces.