Prague is in the Details

 [click on the image to see a larger version of the photograph]

The title of this post might remind you of a quote credited to Mies van der Rohe, "God is in the details," or the variant, "The devil is in the details." Whichever you prefer, these ideas imply that details deserve our careful attention.

Because I've been to Prague many times, I don't really notice the major tourist attractions and well-known sights the way I did when I first began to spend time here in the 1990s. But unusual and often unnoticed details of the city -- whether decorative or architectural or simply aspects of urban life -- still draw my eye and give me pleasure and inspiration.

I haven't taken as many photos here this year as I often do, but I wanted to post a few pictures to show Prague in all its graceful and inspiring details. Throughout the city there is an amazing variety of sculptures, such as this worn but still beautiful statue at the Rudolfinum:

And, if you pause and look upward from time to time as you walk through the streets, you will see beautiful decorative touches on the buildings, such as this art nouveau piece:

Sometimes the details are more interesting than beautiful:

Sometimes they're a little odd, like this sculpture from the building that houses the Cafe Adria:

Or St. Sebastian in a niche:

And sometimes, if I'm lucky, I find old statues that have escaped the unrelenting tide of renovation and rehabbing that has changed the face of this city:

But wherever I go, I pay careful attention because Prague is in the details, and it's an even more rewarding place when you are aware of them.