Early Life, Family and Training Josef Mánes was born on 12 May 1820 in Prague, entering a world where art was a shared language within his own home. He was part of a family deeply rooted in the creative arts. His father, Antonín, provided his first lessons, guiding his young hands as he began to understand the fundamentals of painting. This familial connection to art extended through his siblings, his brother Quido and his sister Amalie, and reached into the very institutions of his city through his uncle, Václav, who served as the Director of the Prague Art Academy. His formal education be…