Golden Dog of Charles Bridge
The good boy of Prague has received many a pet over the years, so many that he has turned golden.
Many public sculptures around the world are believed to grant good luck to those who rub them or have become the cultural trend of the area.
On Charles Bridge, one of the most famous sights of Prague, the bronze relief at the base of the 17th-century statue of Saint John of Nepomuk has gotten a chrysopoeian amount of rubbing—or pets, if you will—by the visitors. The relief depicts an armor-clad knight petting his dog; this is not a scene from the saint’s life and is believed simply to be a representation of loyalty.
The golden dog is not an object of good luck per se, and the tradition of rubbing the relief does not seem to predate the 20th century. It seems to have been started simply to show the good boy the respect that he deserved. His popularity continues to grow, thanks in part to the advance of the internet and its pup-loving culture.
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