overview opening hours admission about the place This gallery is a branch of the Museum of Decorative Arts. It's located in the U Luny house in the Castle District, where Czech photographer Josef Sudek (1896—1976) lived from 1959 until his death. The exhibition programme includes both extensive shows of Sudek's work, as well as those of modern Czech photographers with an emphasis on the period between the wars and the history of Prague photography from the mid-19th century to the present day. opening hours october—march mon—tue closed wed 11:00—17:00 thu—fri closed sat—sun 11:00—17:00 april—september mon—tue closed wed 12:00—18:00 thu—fri closed sat—sun 12:00—18:00 more about opening hours admission basic 40 CZK reduced 20 CZK With a ticket to the main building, admission to the gallery is free. more about admission admission basic 40 CZK reduced 20 CZK With a ticket to the main building, admission to the gallery is free. opening hours october—march mon—tue closed wed 11:00—17:00 thu—fri closed sat—sun 11:00—17:00 april—september mon—tue closed wed 12:00—18:00 thu—fri closed sat—sun 12:00—18:00 history Dům U Kamenného sloupu (House at the Stone Column) / Dům U Slunce a Luny (House at the Sun and Luna) The building stands on a site once occupied by vineyards and gardens. Built in the Baroque style, it has two names, derived from the Stone Column house sign and from the U Luny corner sculpture. The building was rebuilt and enlarged in 1706, when it was home to Kristián Luna, a Baroque painter and burgher of Hradčany, and one of the founders of the Baroque pilgrimage complex at Bílá Hora. He also played a part in the decoration of the Church of Our Lady Victorious there. During his time, the Stone Column house sign, known in Latin as Lapidea columna, was installed in its present position and topped with a wooden statuette of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. The façade was adorned with two allegorical stucco busts of the Sun and the Moon, inscribed Sol and Luna, by Michal Jan Josef Brokoff. When the column was restored in the 1960s, it was discovered that it was not made of stone, as had long been assumed, but of stucco reinforced with a wooden beam. A cavity found inside the lower part of the Madonna statuette held a metal box containing commemorative documents written in German and dating from 1728 and 1824. The earlier of the two was written by Kristián Luna himself. In 1906, the building was purchased by the Kalaš sisters, one of whom devoted herself to painting and graphic art, while the other pursued literature and translation. Their third sister, the celebrated singer Klementina Kalašová, was a frequent visitor, as were Jaroslav Vrchlický and many other notable figures. The poet Otakar Theer also lived here, drawing inspiration for his writing from the building itself. Recognising the building’s importance as one of Prague’s historic landmarks, the Club for Old Prague funded the restoration of its sculptural ornamentation in 1934. In 1959, the photographer Josef Sudek moved part of his household here from his small studio in Újezd. He lived in a two-room ground-floor apartment until his death in 1976. He enjoyed playing records from his extensive collection to his friends. The Museum of Decorative Arts later opened part of the building to the public, creating an intimate gallery in Sudek’s former apartment. Today, it presents the work of Josef Sudek alongside that of other leading figures in modern Czech photography. Local legend has it that a headless monk from Strahov Monastery sometimes rides past the building on horseback, carrying his head under his arm. The monk had refused three times to administer the last rites to a dying man because he was busy playing cards with a traveller. The traveller, however, was the devil in disguise, and when he revealed himself, the monk realised that although he had won some money, he had lost his soul. He leapt onto his horse and raced to reach the dying man in time. Yet just as he was approaching the building, the old man breathed his last, the horse stumbled, the monk was thrown to the ground and was decapitated.