Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 29. (2001)

A BUDAI KIRÁLYI PALOTA MŰVÉSZETI, KULTURÁLIS SZEREPE - Rózsa György: A budai várpalota lotharingiai falikárpitjainak sorsa 361-369

GYÖRGY RÓZSA THE FATE OF THE LORRAINE WALL TAPESTRIES OF THE ROYAL PALACE IN BUDA Summary Leopold, son and heir of Charles V of Lorraine who was one of the most brilliant military commanders of the 17th century, commissioned two series of wall tapestries to commemorate his father's great victories won during the liberation of Hungary from the Turks. The tapestries were crafted by Charles Mité's court carpet weaving manufactory, based on the paintings of Charles Herbei, and the drawings of Jean-Baptiste Dump and Jean-Baptiste Martin. The series ended up in the imperial art collections in Vienna as part of Maria Theresa's husband Francis of Lorraine's dowry. Four of these tapestries were loaned to the newly built Royal Palace in Buda in the early 20th century. Two of them had come from the smaller, originally five-part, series, including the Battle with the Turkish relief armies under Buda, the Spoliation of Buda after recapture, and two from the larger series, including the Imaginary takeover of Buda castle, and the Imaginary triumphal march after the recapture of Buda. All four tapestries disappeard after World War II. The Pillage of Buda turned up a couple of year, and was bought by the Musée Lorrain in 1954; the depiction of the Triumphal March was purchased by the Hungarian National Bank and deposited in the Hungarian National Museum in 1992. A photograph of the one of these two lost appeared in a book on the history of Russian army uniforms, printed in Moscow in 1994—without, howewer, any indication of technique, whereabouts, or theme. There is, then, hope that the lost two wall tapestries will be found one day. 369