Arrabona - Múzeumi közlemények 41/1-2. (Győr, 2003)

Tanulmányok: - Székely Zoltán: A győri vár reneszánsz kapui

ARRABONA41.2003. TANULMÁNYOK Zoltán Székely: The renaissance gateways of the fortress in győri in the 16th century The fortress in Győr was the most important and largest stronghold within the system of border fortresses in Hungary in the 16th century: its outstanding significance can be explained by its function in defending Vienna. The plans of the fortress were devised in correspondence with the most advanced Italian principles of the period in the field of military architecture, and it was erected between 1537 and 1577. The concept was carried out and the actual operations were mainly directed by Italian specialists (Francisco Benigno, Bernardo Gabelli, Bernardo de Magno, Pietro Ferabosco). From the point of view of the history of art the most interesting details of the fortress are the gateways: the Gateway to Vienna of 1568, the Gateway to Fehérvár (Alba Regia) of the same year, and the so called Water Gateway of 1567. The importance of the Gateway to Vienna in the history of architecture in the late Renaissance period in Hungary has already been pointed out by the research in the history of art. In the present paper an attempt is made for the reconstruction of the gateways with the help of the information based on the collection and critical appraisal of the extant fragments of architecture - namely ornamental carved works: courts of arms and epigraphic panels together with the traceable though heretofore unknown items of iconography. It met with complete success in the case of the Gateway to Vienna, but initial data for further research are also available in connection with the other two gateways. According to the view based on this research the gateways in Győr belong to the Renaissance gateways of the type of triumphal arches. This type was shaped by the architecture of the Renaissance in Italy, and it was significantly transformed during the period of a hundred years of its history: the ornamental architecture imitating antiquity and being decorated with sculptures became a structure emphasising the strength of the fortress. In the case of the Gateway to Vienna - characterised by rusticated walls with three openings, and articulated by pilasters -, its direct model from Italy has been identified

. The basic concept is taken after one of the wood-cut plans of Sebastiano Serlio's work entitled Regole generali di architettura.

.. which was published in 1537. Serlio's book of models was very popular in the 16th century, and it had also been used in Hungary earlier. However, the Gateway to Vienna represents the earliest example of Serlio's reception in this country. Nonetheless, the designer of the Gateway to Vienna rendered the prototype by Serlio up-to-date after the model of the Porta Palio, one of the city gates of Verona by Michèle Sanmicheli, which was completed in 1557. Beyond the Porta Palio, the many layered wall-texture modelled on this structure links the Gateway to Vienna with those representatives of the architecture of "mannerism" - i.e., that of the late 16th century -, which are exemplified by the Palazzo Valmarana of 1566, the palace of And rea Palladio in Vicenza

. As for the Gateways to Fehérvár and the Water Gateway, one can expect prototypes by Serlio and Sanmicheli, as well. These structures could be architectures of one opening and articulated by responds of Doric style. Concerning the designer of the gateways no written documents have been discovered as yet. Most probably Pietro Ferabosco is the one who can be mentioned out of the architectures who were active in Győr in the 1560's. His artistic competence, his knowledge of wide horizon, his representative works having been accomplished due to royal and imperial commissions made him suitable to meet the requirements of tasks resembling the challenges of the gateways in Győr. Unfortunately, his achievement is almost exclusively 110