Election-time ceasefire called in epic row over artwork

Prague City Hall has decided to suspend the planned relocation of the Slav Epic from Moravský Krumlov to the capital until after this weekend’s municipal and senate elections, saying that the issue had become over-politicised. Moravský Krumlov welcomed the decision. Prague said that the next step would be to send a “polite letter” to officially ask when the paintings might be moved. Moravský Krumlov was fined 80.000 by a circuit court in Znojmo for preventing the move. The two cities have been in a heated row over Alphonse Mucha’s Art Nouveau masterpiece, which is a major tourist attraction for the small Moravian town, at least since the recent decision of the Znojmo court that they could be removed to Prague.