Buzási Enikő szerk.: In Europe' Princely Courts, Ádám Mányoki, Actors and venues of a portraitist's career (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2003/1)
Enikő Buzási: ÁDÁM MÁNYOKI (1673-1757) Conclusions from a Monograph
Ádám Mányoki: Leopold, duke of Anhalt-Dessau, 1714 (?) Dessau, Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie (cat. no. 38) sequent periods are busts of a more intimate scale and approach. By involving Mányoki in the work of the Hofdamengalerie, Pesne also gave him a glimpse of how to get ahead in the Berlin court. The situation in Hungary, with the Szatmár peace (30 April 1711) treaty terminating the war of independence and the prince emigrating, convinced Mányoki that Rákóczi would not need nor be able to maintain a court painter any more. Although he called Mányoki to Gdansk in January 1712, it was to carry out a single job, to paint the prince's portrait (cat. no. 29). The next and most important stage of Mányoki's career, his employment in the Saxon court, explains the reason for the commission. There is evidence that Rákóczi's portrait of 1712 was already in the Dresden collection before 1728. This supports the presumption that the portrait was made for Augustus II, king of Poland and elector of Saxony, who had backed Rákóczi following his emigration to Poland, and that it was the prince's gift to the king. A so-far ignored, seemingly insignificant, but thought-provoking bit of archival data providing the painting's date of completion adds further weight. The financial records of Rákóczi's emigre years include the following entry for 5 October 1712: "for iron nails to hang up the painter's work in His Majesty's house... 30xr." Since the work of the painter was to be hung in Rákóczi's home, it was probably his portrait. The date of completion supports the idea that it was made as a present, since the prince was about to leave for the second leg of his emigration, to France, a month later. From early 1713 Mányoki was in the service of Augustus II, first in Warsaw, performing occasional assignments, and from 1717 as court portraitist. Written documents, archival sources, and collection inventories have special importance in the study of this approximately ten-year period that Mányoki spent in the vicinity of the Saxon ruler. Only a fragment of the works known to have been painted for the court in Dresden survive, hence this most prolific period can only be surveyed with the help of sources. The information gleaned from the sources suggest that in the 18 th century there were 68 works inventoried in the collection of the Saxon rulers that can be associated with some degree of certainty with Mányoki. 19 Three bills of the painter listing works are known: one dated June 1713 in Warsaw, the other October 1714 in Dresden, the third October 1715 in Leipzig. The paintings enumerated were made for two series, one portraying the ladies of the court in the so-called "gallery of beauties." Mányoki's earliest paintings for Augustus the Strong, portraits painted in Warsaw in 1713, of Adám Mányoki: Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, 1714 Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (cat. no. 19)
