Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 25. (Budapest, 2007)
Magda LICHNER: Early Works by Gyula Kaesz: His Designs for the Parish Church of St. Nicolas at Muraszombat /Murska Sobota
7. Design for a chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. First version. Archive of the Research Institute for Art Histoiy, Budapest and windows made the design work difficult. The measurements of these were conveyed to Kaesz only after some delay. Among the documents, only the ground plans and a photograph tell of the condition of the building at this time. The photograph shows the Gothic chancel with its surviving fresco embellishment (illustration). The fresco fragments were in very poor condition but were under protection, although the parish would have been willing to disregard this. It was no coincidence that Kaesz was told about the fresco fragments only later: because they were protected, a Holy Sepulchre structure could not be placed up against the wall. Kaesz made many sketches and sent two, one of which could be chosen (illustration). But the designs reflect a change in taste, one exhibiting an emphasis on composition and its geometrical simplification. In the first version, the wall con8. Design for a chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. Second version. Archive of the Research Institute for Art History, Budapest taining the vaulted recess of the tomb is higher and there are many sculpted figural shapes; the intention was to attach the structure to the wall. The second version is simpler: Christ’s body is laid before believers in an opened sarcophagus, and the low stone breastwork supporting the tomb is freestanding, i.e. it stands away from the wall. An interesting and elegant solution is the lines of the grooves on the flower-holder that runs horizontally along the breastwork. These divide horizontally the otherwise narrow space with its emphasis on vertical reach achieved by means of the tall narrow apertures represented by the three windows with pointed arches. The designer and those placing the order liked the first version more, but new difficulties now emerged. With regard to the material to be used in the structure and in its sculptural embellishments, wishes conflicted with pos128
