Folia archeologica 23.
Ferenc Fülep – György Duma: Examinations of the Wall Paintings in the Cella Trichora of Pécs
216 F. FÜLEP - GY. DUMA Byzantine princess around toi 5 and presumably the establishment of a nunnery in Veszprémvölgy may be linked to this event. 4 8 During the time of Stephen Greek monasteries were founded in Csanád and Oroszlános, during Andrew I 4 9 (10461060) in Tihany, Visegrád, Pentele 5 0 (a nunnery), and later on also in Szávaszentdemeter. 5 1 Consequently, when, with the marriage of prince Emeric and the establishment of the nunnery at Veszprémvölgy such a direct contact develops between the Hungarian dynasty and the Byzantine Empire it may be possible in theory that simultaneously with the establishment of the cathedral in Pécs 5 2 the cella trichora was restored and painted with motifs deriving from the Kufic pattern . Inhabitants of these Greek (Basilian) monasteries were obviously coming mainly from Greek territory of the Balkans 5 3 due to these Byzantine contacts, and among them there might have been people familiar with painting. But in our view this period is again too early as the time when the Kufic pattern had spread in Hungary, if the similar monuments found in churches in Athens are taken into consideration as not a single church survives in Athens from the time prior to the 1 ith century. 5 4 Close contacts between Hungary and the Byzantine Empire 5 5 during the reign of Andrew I (1046-1 060) have already been referred to. During the second half of the I ith century family relations were established between Géza I (1074-1077) and the Byzantine court. 5 6 In the early 12th century the daughter of Ladisias I (1077-1095) Piroska (Irene) was the wife of the heir of the Byzantine throne, and in 111 8 ascended the throne as the wife of John II Comnenus. 5 7 During the last third of the 12th century, with the reign of Béla III (11731196) the contacts of our country had again become extremely close with the Byzantine Empire. It is an interesting correspondence of facts, that in the Árpád period great quantities of coins occur with Kufic inscription during the reign of Béla 111. 5 8 The reign of Béla III may in the mean time stand for the upper time limit when the pattern might have come to Hungary. After the death of the first wife of the king, Ágnes (Änne) de Chatillon Béla III married the daughter of the French king Louis VII, Margaret Capet 5 9 in 1186. This was preceded by the settling of the Cistercian order in Hungary in 1179. 6 0 This can be regarded almost 4 8 Idem, Studia Byz. p. 334.: leaves open the question of the personality of the founder.-Similarly Idem , Hungary ... p. 574. 4 9 Idem, Studia Byz. p. 335 : deals with the Byzantine and Russian contacts of Andrew I in detail and refers to the so-called "Crown of Constantine Monomachos" that was presented to the King by Byzantium between 1042 and 1055. (Ibid, further lit.) 5 0 Its foundation is dated by all means to the nth century in Moravcsik, Gy., Görög nyelvű . . . pp. 335Íf. Ibid. pp. 418fr. 5 2 Gos^tonyi, Gy., A pécsi Szt. Péter székesegyház eredete. (Pécs 1939) pp. 28 and 77.; Nagy, T., Szépművészet 1941. p. 148.; Effects of Byzantine art and more precisely architecture are proved in the time of Stephen I by Moravcsik, Gy., Hungary ... p. 576. 5 3 Moravcsik, Gy., Görög nyelvű ... p. 421. 5 4 Soteriou, G., op. cit. p. 272. 5 5 See above Note 49.; Moravcsik, Gy., Hungary . . . pp. 576ff. so Ibid. pp. 578fr. 6 7 Ibid. pp. 579fr. 5 8 Upon the kind oral communication of I. Gedai. 59 Moravcsik, Gy., Byzantium and the Magyars. (Bp. 1970) p. 93. 6 0 Hóman, B.-S^ekfii, Gy., op. cit. p. 393: Before the reign of Béla III alieady in 1142 Cistercian monks were settled in Czikádor. Foerster, Gy. (ed.) III. Béla király emlékezete. (Bp. 1900) p. 117.
