Kaján Imre (szerk.): Zalai Múzeum 20. (Zalaegerszeg, 2012)
Tanulmányok Asbóth Sándorról - Cs. Lengyel Beatrix: Asbóth Sándor ikonográfiája
106 Cs. Lengyel Beatrix The thin, peaky face of the officer staying with Lajos Kossuth during the Turkey emigration could be seen in a drawing by Walter Gould, the American painter who visited them under exceptional circumstances. (Picture no. 1.) The next pictures we know of - from the 1850s - show the face of the engineer living in emigration. In the exceptionally beautiful and well- preserved sixth-plate daguerrotype Asbóth can be seen wearing everyday clothing. (Picture no. 2.) Also in the collection of the Hungarian Museum there is a small ferrotype, in which he is wearing something similar to the traditional Hungarian coat. (Pictures no. 12. and 13.) The previous picture for this one was certainly a visit card photograph not found in Hungary, but known from American collector websites. In the drawings by Henri Lovie, today in the Becker Collection, we can see the soldier of the American Civil War. Most important among them is the one showing Asbóth with his general staff, of which an engraving version was even published during the war, in the renowned paper titled Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. (Picture no. 7.) A copy of a visit card of the time can be found in Hungary. Said picture, served as a basis also for a painting as well as the illustration on his memorial stone at his grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Famous American photographers Matthew Brady and Charles D. Fiedricks made the portraits of the chief officer of I. kép Walter Gould, 1851 Courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania the Civil War in their studio. These pictures got around, probably even made into visit cards for sale, and can still be found on collector websites. Even then, pictures already travelled from continent to continent. For instance, one portrait of Asbóth made by M. Brady came to the collection of the Hungarian National Museum from the belongings of Lajos Kossuth. (Pictures no. 15. and 16.) This picture was also in possession of the editors of Vasárnapi Újság (Sunday News) in 1866, as the engraving based on it appeared on the front page in the issue in which the biography of the General was published. (Picture no. 17.) In the middle of the 1860s Miklós Barabás, a prominent Hungarian portrait painter of the time, made an oil painting of Sándor Asbóth (Picture no. 20.). It is now in the custody of the family of Asbóth. In the last known picture of his life there is an old man staring back at us, suffering from his serious injury. The glass negative was taken by Matthew Brady, and today is kept in the National Archive in the United States. It would be desirable for both the American and Hungarian information to be more precise and connect more thoroughly, and for the research to discover the history of the creation of the pictures as well. The study could be a first step towards these goals. Translated by Lívia Summer 2. kép Ismeretlen amerikai dagerrotípia készítő felvétele, 1855 Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum
