Gosztonyi Ferenc szerk.: Munkácsy a nagyvilágban (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2005/1)

I. TANULMÁNYOK - MUNKÁCSY A NAGYVILÁGBAN - SINKÓ Katalin: Munkácsy vallásos képei és a századvég „szent-realizmusa"

49. kép Max Liebermann: A tizenkét éves Jézus a templomban / Max Liebermann: The Twelvc-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple, 1879 „Liebermann, Munkácsy és a francia naturalisták hatása nyomán vélte úgy, hogy a karakterisztikus vonásokat az utálatosságok oldaláról (nach der Seite des Haßlichen) kell kiaknázni"/

3 Liebermann képe példát jelentett a vallásos tárgyú modern festészet számára: a 80-as évek vallási témájú opponáló-naturalista festői, Uhde, Firle és Dettmann ezt az utat követték. Uhde nemcsak festészetének modernizmusával, hanem a szent törrénetek újszerű felfogásával is kitűnt a 80-as évek elején. O is Munkácsy tanítványának számított. A mindennapok realizmusával áthatott biblikus képei szoros kapcsolatban álltak az evangélikus reformmozgalommal, mely szociális üzenetet olvasott ki az evangéliumokból.

34 Uhde képei kapcsán mind az evangélikus, mind a katolikus lapok kritikái között számos elítélő írást lehet találni.

3

" maierei), comparing his chiaroscuro technique not to Hals's, but directly to Rembrandt's. "It is rightly noted that the only artist to whom Munkácsy — mutatis mutandis — can be compared in some sense is Rembrandt. In their own ways, both of them can embed their compositions in an even atmosphere, lending a distinctive, enthralling charm to them," Munkácsy's monographer quoted the view held by contemporary critics.

3

" Rembrandt was then widely regarded as the beacon of Protestant religious painting. Unlike Munkácsy, Liebermann shortly deserted the movement of "black painting" and switched to "light painting" (Hellmalerei), to use another contemporary expression. They both turned to biblical themes at the end of the 1870s, but unlike Munkácsy, whose new ditection was accompanied by the acceptance of historicism, Lieberman placed his biblical scenes in a contemporary setting. He showed The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple at an international exhibition in Munich in 1879. (III. 49) His composition stirred up a political scandal in the Bavarian Parliament: Describing it as a "blasphemous caricature," certain members of Parliament launched a vehement attack on the artist for the "ugliness" of the characters.

31 What these people particularly objected to was Liebermann's decision to place the child Jesus and the scholars in a synagogue. Rejecting the methods of the "scientific" Orientalising biblical painting, he presented the scene without religious pathos. The conservative critics were offended by this, just as much as they were bv the colours of the painting.

32 According to Adolf Rosenbetg's article written in 1886, "under the influence of Munkácsy and the French Naturalists, Licbermann came to the view that the characteristic features had to be captured from the aspect of ugliness (nach der Seite des Haßlichen)."

33 Liebermann's picture served as an archetype of modern religious painting: the Naturalist painters of the 1880s, Uhde, Firle and Dettmann, all followed this path. Uhde stood out in this company not only by virtue of the modernity of his painting, but also with his novel conception of the holy legends. He was one of Munkácsy's students, too. His biblical paintings, which were imbued with the realism of everyday life, were closely connected to the Evangelical reform movement, which offered a social interpretation of the Gospel.

14 In reviewing Uhde's paintings, both the Catholic and the Evangelical papers gave voice to their outrage.

35 A MÁSIK ÚT: MUNKÁCSY FORDULATA A HISTORIZMUS FELÉ Munkácsy 1877-ben kezdett el Milton című képével foglalkozni. Levelezéséből kiderül, hogy rudarosan fordulr a históriai témához, tanulmányként több kosztümös zsánerkeper, tanulmányt is festett. Milton személye aktuálisnak tűnhetett ezekben az években, hiszen 1874-ben volt halálának kétszáz éves évfordulója. Ezen túlmenően Munkácsy szeme előtt lebeghettek Gustave Dórénak az Elveszett paradicsomhoz készített illusztrációi is, melyek viTHE OTHER PATH: MUNKÁCSY'S CONVERSION TO HISTORICISM Munkácsy started to work on Milton m 1877. His correspondence makes it clear that the decision to choose a historical subject-matter was a calculated one, and that he completed several studies and genre scenes with figures in period costumes. As the 200

th anniversary of the poet's death had been commemorated in 1874, Milton's life and character still had some actuality in those years. On top of that, Munkácsy may have also been influenced by the inter-