Török Gyöngyi: Gothic Panel Paintings and Wood Carvings in Hungary, Permanent exhibition of the Hungarian National Gallery (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2005/3)

Ground-floor - Rooms 1-5

In this room visitors find sculpture in the early 15th century Soft Style. Tlie two outstanding statues are those of SS Catherine and Dorothy from Barka caned between L4T0 and 1 Both are characterized by the flat execution of the closely fitting upper part of the gown fastened by a clasp, the folds of the robe draped over the arms reminiscent of the "classical" order, and the drapery ends folded softly back on the ground. Although the lyrical expression and modelling of the faces suggest the influence of the beautiful Madonnas, the two saints from Barka have unusual individuality compared to the idealized female saint types ot the age. The statue of St Catherine from Barka is the most important acquisition of the Old Hungarian Collection in recent years ( 1999). The second Virgin and Child from Toporc from around 1420 is a typical representative of the Beautiful Madonnas. These standing Virgins playing gently with the infant on their arms are the direct precedents to the altar carvings. It was not art history that first used the term "beautiful": the theological literature of the turn of the lath and 15th centuries stressed the harmony of the physical and spiritual beauty of the Virgin. The apple of the original sin also has an important theological connotation, turning Man' into the "New Eve". Coming lrom the western border area, the "Maria gravida" from Németújvár, dated to around lain, is obviously related in style to the Viennese Soft Style. Originally il was a horizontal panel painting belonging to a larger altarpiece of the Virgin with various scenes, cut off on the left side. Earlier, the iconography of the picture was determined as part of a "doubts of Joseph" scene, but infrared reflectography clone in 1993 facilitated a more precise definition. It revealed that under the dress covering her belly the Infant Jesus can be seen with the cross in a double mandorla. It had been painted over the Virgin's gown on the basis of the underdrawing, but it was destroyed during the Baroque repainting. This type of Annunciation related to the Maria gravida cult spreading in the late lath century was a response to "Joseph's doubts" and led to the emergence of tin independent devotional picture type (Andachtsbild).