Szabadfalvi József: A megyaszói festett asztalosmunkák 1735-ből (Borsodi Kismonográfiák 9. Miskolc, 1980)

Asztalos Ferenc (1720) etc. Thus our masters Miskolci Asztalos Imre and Miskolci Asztalos István were joiners working in Miskolc town. (c. Borsod). At that time the painting of the furniture made by themselves was a part of the joiner's work. 60 of the Megyaszó painted ceiling boards have remained. Five of them contain figurái compositions. The one in plate 2 represents an awkwardly depicted unicorn, the symbol of maidenly chastity in protestant iconography, surrounded by asymmetrical floral composition. The double-eagle (pi. 3.) may be the heraldic bird of the Habsburg dynasty ruling in Hungary at that time, but it may as well be the characteristic bird of Ancient East, just like the one e.g. in the one time Byzantine arms. The scenes from the bible, mainly from the Paradise, are frequent in the painted boards of churches in Hungary, especially up to the 18th c. Most often they depicted the first pair under the apple tree. There is only one peartree standing in one of the Megyaszó boards (pi. 4.), perhaps as a simplified symbol of the Paradise scene. The boards presenting the Sun and a star with human face (pi. 5—6.) can also be groupped among the figurái compositions. Most of the plant ornaments in the boards show late renaissance influence. It is best presented by the so called „Italian garland", which is frequent on renaissance stone carvings, carved or painted furniture and also on ceiling boards. It is a garland composed of series of acanthus and laurel leaves in a lace-like manner, embracing or uniting the floral ornaments. The Italian garland is clearly presented in plates 7, 8, 9, 11, while a more schematic solution is to be seen in plates 12, 13, 14 and 15. Perhaps the circle composition in plates 16, 17, 18 and 19 have their origin in the Italian garland too. Many of the boards are of central arrangement. Some of them start from a motive in the middle of the board (e.g. pi. 16), while in other cases the branches of flowers start from the corners to fill the squareformed space (e.g. plates 25, 26). About 20 of the Megyaszó ceiling boards consist of one ornamental unit, one stalk of flower or a bunch of flowers (pi. 17 and ff.) This kind of composition originates from that of the Italian garland, the motive to be traced back to renaissance traditions. In this case a stalk of flower starts from a slim two-handled vase (pi. 62), but the „jug" is often replaced by another ornament, e.g. a heart or a tulipe (pi. 17, 28, 32.). Some of the ceiling boards of the Megyaszó protestant church contain symmetrical ornaments, where the patterns are mirrored along a diagonal line (pi. 44—54). The ceiling boards were made in a manner to evoke the impression of depth. The same was their aim with the S line connectioning the corners of the frames and of the boards. The prime colour of the boards is nearly always white. The cold and warm colours are balanced, the green, the red and the deep brown are dominating. The leaves and the foliation 54