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The
main entrance
brings the pilgrim into the arcade courtyard. The
signature of F. A. Scheffler (1701-1760) can be found on
the fresco of the Annunciation on the vault of the 1st
bay of the arcade by the entrance. After 1750 he
executed the painting of the entire ground-floor of the
courtyard (with the invocations from the Litany of
Loreto), including the frescoes on the cupolas of three
corner chapels. As they walk along the
arcade, the visitors pass the spaces of the Old
Treasury, no longer accessible to the public
(previously, the Loreto treasure was deposited there).
 CHAPEL
OF ST ANNE. The
second oldest of the corner chapels was constructed in
1687 from the funds of a public collection. The
principal altarfrom the end of the 17th
century is decorated with a relief of St Anne, the
Virgin Mary and Christ Child (a gift from Katharina
Polyxena von Lobkowitz). The side
altar of St Laurence was raised in 1709 at the
expense of Eva Isabelle Förphanová.
CHAPEL
OF ST FRANCIS SERAPHINUS. It was built in 1717 at the expense of Princess Eleonore
Caroline von Lobkowitz, according to a design by K.
Dientzenhofer (1655-1722). The High Baroque carved principal
altar, from the sculptural workshop of M. W. Jäckel
(1655-1738) has in its centre the superb painting of the
Stigmata of St Francis by Petr Brandl (1668-1735).
 CHAPEL
OF THE HOLY FAMILY
(also known as the Chapel of St Joseph). It was founded
in 1691 with a financial contribution from Countess
Ludmila Eva Frances Kolowrat, née Hýzerlová of Chodù.
(The principal
altar with the painting of the Family of Christ
bears her coat-of-arms.) The side
altar of the Capuchin saint, Felix of Cantalicia,
is Rococo, provided with high-quality sculptural
decoration, clearly made by Richard Prachner
(1705-1782).
CHAPEL
OF THE HOLY ROOD.
It was
built in 1691 at the expense of Countess Ludmila Eva
Frances Kolowrat. The principal
altar from 1692, with the painting of Purgatory,
was supplemented in the 1730s by the sculpture of the
Crucified Christ. The side
altar of the Capuchin martyr St Fidelis of
Sigmaringen dates from 1735, like the sculpture of St
Dismas. The statue of the Flagellation of Christ is from
the 17th century.
CHAPEL
OF ST ANTONY OF PADUA. It arose almost at the same time as the chapel opposite (no. 4); the
interior decoration of both is stylistically similar:
the principal
altar (also from Jäckel’s workshop) bears in
the centre a painting of St Antony by S. Zeiler from
1713.
 THE
CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS.
The oldest corner chapel of the arcade was built in 1686
at the expense of the Lesser Town councillor F. Windisch
for the Gothic Pieta sculpture, donated to the Loreto a
year earlier by the burgher V. Rincolini. (According to
legend, the sculpture miraculously escaped being burned
by the Calvinists.) The Pieta from the beginning of the
15th century is placed on the principal
altar that dates from the time of the
construction of the chapel. The side
altar from the 1730s is consecrated to the
alleged martyr, St Wilgefortis (Kümmernis, Starosta in
Czech), whose cult was particularly vital in the
northern countries.
FOUNTAIN
WITH SCULPTURAL GROUP OF THE RESURRECTION.
Both fountains arose between 1738-40 in the workshop of
J. M. Brüderle (documented 1725-1740); after his death,
R. Prachner took over the commission. Today a copy.
FOUNTAIN WITH SCULPTURAL GROUP OF THE ASSUMPTION.
Today a copy (the originals are deposited in the
stone collection of the National Museum, Prague).
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