Mikoláš Aleš (18 November 1852 – 10 July 1913), was a Czech painter. Aleš is estimated to have had over 5,000 published pictures; he painted for everything from magazines to playing cards to textbooks. His paintings were not publicized too widely outside Bohemia, but many of them are still available, and Mikoláš Aleš is regarded as one of the Czech Republic's greatest artists.

Aleš was born in Mirotice near Písek, into a relatively rich family that was in debt at the time. He was taught history by his brother František until the latter's death in 1865; he expressed interest in painting at an early age. In 1879 he got married to Marina Kailová and moved to Italy where he continued his career in painting. He moved back to Prague to wor...