Braun's Bethlehem

Between 1723 and 1732 Matthias Bernard Braun, the leading sculptor working in Bohemia, carved a group of figures for Count Frantisek Antonin Sporck not as free-standing statues but directly into the sandstone blocks lying in the woods above Kuks - hermits, biblical scenes, a Nativity, the Vision of St Hubert, Mary Magdalene - so the rock the figure is cut from is the setting it stands in. The scheme originally ran to more than twenty pieces along a route through the forest; about a dozen survive in recognisable condition, and they have been weathering in the open for three centuries, which is why some are now soft and pitted and a few have been moved or copied for protection. That decay is part of what the place is. The Kuks hospital complex with Braun's Virtues and Vices is two kilometres away and the two belong together.

What you actually see

• Figures cut into living rock - carved where the sandstone blocks lie in the forest.
• Braun's own hand - work of 1723-1732 by the leading Bohemian baroque sculptor.
• Three centuries of weathering - some pieces soft and pitted, a few replaced by copies.
• A forest route - the surviving group walked between on marked paths.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is a forest walk with no facilities; the path is muddy after rain. Several original pieces have been moved to shelter and replaced with copies. The condition of the survivors varies a great deal.

Nearby

Kuks hospital and its Braun sculptures are two kilometres away.