The statue served as a model for the realization of the statue in bronze (private investor – Rehabilitation Center Čeladná s. r. o.). It is based on the previous composition of the “Humility” statue, but basically follows on from the older “Virtue of Virtues” statue. Again, it is inspired by a yoga pose called Gomukha asana, or cow pose – also sometimes called the woman’s pose. All the more so because this position is related to the theme of the biblical Eve, the foremother of humanity, who was not born of a woman. She humbly accepts the predestination of inevitable fate with open arms. She floats, as it were, above the ground, when using a hidden point of contact on the calf of the left leg, she creates a shadow under the body, and to ensure stability, she lightly touches the little toes of both feet to the ground, from which she is basically born through a man.

The sculpture is still in the creative process stage and is not quite in its final form. The entire finalization process remains the author’s secret.

photo: Martin Popelář, author’s archive

The Virtue of Virtues – figure is in life size. The statue is based on a yoga posture called Gomukha Asana, or cowgirl pose – also sometimes called the female posture. It is a modified version of the gently floating figure – again resting on three points – the knee of the left leg and the little toes of both feet. The sculpture was several years in the making, and twice, by unfortunate accident (and by someone else’s fault), the work was completely destroyed in the making of the sculpture. On the third attempt to make the sculpture in clay, I began to think about realizing this sculpture in stone. Thanks to a private investor this realization finally happened (2013). The whole process of the work taught me patience and, above all, humility, which is why I eventually gave this work the title Virtue of Virtues (St. Thomas Aquinas considered humility a virtue of virtues).

Humility as a state of mind, realizing one’s own imperfection. A sculpture that I never finished. The model for this sculpture was my dad, a yogi and loving person. The sculpture is based on the basic, if not the initial, yoga position – a sitting position with legs outstretched and arms slightly supported, back straight but relaxed, with exhalation the head is bent forward, it is the beginning of other exercises and the beginning of a long journey.