Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 29. (2001)

A BUDAI KIRÁLYI PALOTA MŰVÉSZETI, KULTURÁLIS SZEREPE - Szvoboda Dománszky Gabriella: Az újkori Budavári Palota belső díszítése. Függelék: A múzeumi gyűjteményekben azonosított képek. A megmaradt műtárgyak jegyzékei (Dávid Ferenc gyűjtése) 411-456

GABRIELLA SZVOBODA DOMÁNSZKY THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE ROYAL PALACE'S DÉCOR IN MODERN TIMES Summary The research has been little concerned with the décor of the Royal Palace in modern times, save two rudimentary studies (VOIT, 1958; GARAS, 1969). On the whole, this is not solely due to political and historical conditions (viz. the constraints of the communist regime), but also the fact that the Palace, bearing all the hallmarks of historicism, has been considered highly outmoded. This paper seeks to outline the main factors that contributed to the Palace's décor, and recounts the history of the "Holy Crown Art Collection," once on display in the Palace. This collection was important because contemporaries felt that the king's regular art purchases (after 1880) would make the Palace a significant exhibition space for Hungarian art. The Hungarian National Museum had failed to achieve that due to the fact that it lacked the financial resources. Unfortunately neither was the Palace able to achieve it; nevertheless, it was an extremely important document of the official and public tastes ofthat period. Because the Royal Palace in Buda was but one among the Habsburg ruler's many royal residences, the Hungarians had in fact built a palace for themselves, for Hungarian state purposes. Consequently, after it was extended and converted on the turn of the century, the Royal Palace was not only a royal residence, but also a museum, a national shrine, and a powerful symbol of Magyar statehood. Today, historicism is no longer considered unappealing as it was just a few decades ago. We regret today that the impatient Fifties abolished the memory of the one-time royal residence, which was once the centre of Hungarian art and a chef-d'œuvre of historicism. Most of the Palace décor was destroyed in World War II, but many old inventories attest to the fact that a fair number of works of art survived. These passed through many hands before ending up in various state institutions, where latterly identifying them is extremely difficult. Therefore, the reconstruction of the one-time art collection of the Royal Palace is a task yet to be done.