Permanent exhibition

Treasures of the monastery

In the Pinakothek of the Museum of the Old Brno Abbey you will find a room with objects related to the time when the Old Brno monastery belonged to the Cistercian nuns. The monastery Aula Sanctae Mariae together with the basilica was founded by the Czech and Polish queen dowager Eliška Rejčka in May 1323.

Among the most famous patrons of the Cistercian Order are St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), who was a truly significant figure in medieval church history. St. Bernard is depicted on the oldest surviving door, which may have decorated the cell of the abbess (head of the Cistercian monastery).

The Cistercian abbey in Old Brno was abolished by the decree of Joseph II. and this monastery was then inhabited by the Augustinian brothers from St. Thomas. The medieval period of the Augustinians is indicated by the burial plaques of Margrave Jan Henry of Luxembourg and Margrave Jošt of Luxembourg, who founded and restored the church of St. Thomas. This church originally housed the palladium of the city of Brno – the Madonna of St. Thomas. This love panel painting is now found in the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Old Brno on the main altar. It is depicted as a St. Luke’s icon and dates from the 14th century, although it is shrouded in legends about its Cyril and Methodius origin.

In the Cistercian chapel, which is vaulted with a Gothic eight-part rib vault, you will find a treasury with very rare abbot’s insignia and jewels, and in other rooms, for example, a rich collection of liturgical vessels and vestments.

In another room – the Cistercian dormitory – there is a newly installed exhibition of Baroque paintings from the Augustinian property. Among them stands out the painting of St. Augustine, which was painted by Peter Paul Rubens for the Augustinian Church of St. Thomas in Prague’s Lesser Town and has been exhibited in the National Gallery in Prague.

In addition to Baroque art, the Pinakothek is decorated with perhaps the largest painting of Jerusalem in the world, originally painted by the Brno painter Ludwig Blum in 1937.