A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 2004 (Debrecen, 2005)

Művészettörténet, iparművészet - P. Szalay Emőke: 17th-Century Renaissance Lord’s embroideries in the Protestant (Reformed) Congregations of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County

Emőke P. Szalay 17TH-CENTURY RENAISSANCE LORD'S EMBROIDERIES IN THE PROTESTANT (REFORMED) CONGREGATIONS OF SZABOLCS-SZATMÁR-BEREG COUNTY The 17th century is the time period when the so-called Lord's embroidering, perhaps the most beautiful style in the Hungarian art of embroidering is already in full bloom. Despite the 150-year period of the division of the country into three parts, the style of Lord's embroidery, reflecting Italian and Turkish formative influences, constituted a perfect unity in the entire area of Hungary. Although the use of this kind of embroidery covered virtually everything from garments to domestic cloths and draperies, relatively few items are extant to us, due to the ephemeral quality of the actual material used. Among these, the tablecloths for the Lord's tables in the Protestant congregations are of notable significance. Unlike the rest of the objects within the church, they were not subject to strict prescriptive regulations, and thus were ordinary quotidian textile objects decorated with embroidery. An advantage in the case of these tablecloths is the fact that they often had the year when they were prepared recorded on them. Thus, they can also provide invaluable assistance in the process of dating other textile-based finds or relics. The Protestant congregations of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County abound in embroidered objects dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. The aim of the present paper is to present the salient types of artistic needlework through a few Renaissance type embroideries and to make an attempt at establishing the identity of those who have donated them. 282