František Matouš Klácel`s Hermitage

F. M. Klácel was interested in the relationships between the living and the non-living things in nature and in the evolution of life. After 1840 he lived in Liběchov, not far from where there is a cave – the Klácelka Hermitage decorated by sculptor Václav Levý.

František Matouš Klácel (1808─1882) is a unique personality of Bohemian science and philosophy. Originally, he was an Augustinian monk in the Old Brno Monastery (together with s Johann Gregor Mendel). His restless nature and unconventional (including leftist) views, however, made him change his workplace often and he eventually emigrated to the United States. His work emphasized the relationships between living and non-living nature and between human creations and the creativity and beauty of nature. According to him, human art is a continuation of the creative forces present in the cosmos, which is evolving towards ever more perfect beauty. In his view, the driving force behind the evolution of nature is not blind physical forces and natural selection, but the desire of the whole universe for perfect order.   

In the 1840s Klácel stayed at the Liběchov Chateau as a librarian. At that time, the sculptor Václav Levý created impressive works in the surrounding landscape, carved directly into the rocks. A cave called Klácelka, intended as Klácel`s meditation hermitage is also part of this area. Although today it is somewhat damaged by the passing of time, we can still admire the many mythological and allegorical reliefs and meditate on the connection between the beauty of nature and the art of man.

Jan Kilián: Dějiny Liběchova. Vydalo město Liběchov: 2016.

Karel STIBRAL, Ondřej Dadejík, Vlastimil ZUSKA: Česká estetika přírody ve středoevropském kontextu. Praha: Dokořán 2009.

The hermitage (Author: RF)

A statue in the hermitage (Author: RF)

Rocks around the hermitage shaped by sculptor Václav Levý (Author: RF)