The Last days of Jan Amos Komensky in Naarden: A Flicker of Hope
Following military defeat in 1620, the Czechs were forcibly returned to Catholicism, with those who resisted being deported. Notable amongst the exiles was Jan Amos Komensky, a spiritual leader of the Brethren and a passionate advocate of education and learning. The spiritual content of his writings was a source of inspiration to his fellow countrymen who dreamed of a return to independence. Mucha depicts his death- scene, with Komensky inert in a chair on the sea shore of the Dutch town of Naarden where he lived in later life.
In the foreground are his followers mourning the death of their leader whose sense of loneliness and isolation is emphasised by the greys of the sea and the sky. The patch of light, centre left, comes from a small lantern which symbolises the remote hope of return to the homeland.
