Mikó Árpád szerk.: Reneissance year 2008 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2008/1)

ÁRPÁD MIKÓ: The Legacy of King Matthias. Late Renaissance Art in Hungary (16th-17th Century)

Architecture The architecture of the period has left us with the most records, in the form of both original (and still-standing) buildings and written sources. However, since these are immovable works of art, and most written sources do not provide visually interesting material, presenting the architecture of the age in this exhibition poses a problem. Some original stone carvings convey the coexistence of Late Gothic and Renaissance in the Jagiello Era, primarily lesser-known fragments from Eger Cathedral. The Bakócz Chapel in Esztergom (1506-1507) and the Lázói Chapel in Gyulafehérvár (1512) are excellent examples of late Renaissance architecture in Hungary, and the exhibition attempts to convey this through architectural surveys and plaster copies of some of the details. Architectural surveys and images made in the 19th and 20th centuries for purposes of conservation and documentation represent the major Renaissance buildings of the time, from Győr and Pozsony to Kolozsvár. One of the crucial architectural tasks of the age was the building of forts in the Kingdom of Hungary (and Transylvania). Forts of a new type, the "Italian bastion", were built to designs by (mostly) Italian military architects serving the Vienna military council. Illustrated printed architectural tracts enabled the rules to be learned, and these books were in circulation in Hungary. One of the Hungarian aristocrats - probably Tamás Nádasdy - was in contact with the great Italian architect Andrea Palladio, as is revealed by a letter in Palladio's own hand. Relatively few construction plans for forts survive from this period, one being the sketch plan for Deregnyő (Drahnov) Castle. In the modern age, drawings of manor houses and houses of wealthy burghers were made for technical purposes or general interest. The iron railings of the "Queen Mary House" in Körmöcbánya (Kremnica) and an array of painted wooden ceiling panels are significant architectural adornments from the time. Some Conservative Craft Forms The exhibition presents some craft pieces produced for purposes of aristocratic splendour during the period. These fall into different groups. In textile art, the most important phenomenon is a kind of embroidery known as úrihímzés. This appears on all kinds of fabrics, and adorns the whole surface: a complex of leaves and flowers strung on to coloured tendrils spiralling or waving in alternate phase, all remaining on the plane. It is found on both secular and religious cloths and garments. The endless patterns cover sheet borders and cushion covers, resplendent m diverse colours. The other categoiy of textiles consists of imported carpets: many remain in Transylvanian churches even today, and there were many more in the past. Several dozen are mentioned in old inventories. Rugs and horseblankets featuring Turkish embroidery are also on display; these were part of everyday lite in Hungary. White-glazed jugs, flasks and bowls with coloured adornments made by Haban potters constituted the luxury ceramics of the time. Their patterns were highly conservative: the same plant motifs repeat themselves throughout the 17th century. Dating them is greatly facilitated by the common practice of writing on the year, another indication of their makers' strong sense ot tradition. The Anabaptist Habans came to Hungary, and later to Transylvania, from the west, and found refuge for over a century. Their closed communities produced handicrafts of a very high standard. Painting and Reproduction Graphics The portrait was a very important form of 17th century painting. Having still been very rare in the 16th century, it took hold in Hungary in the early 1600s. Galleries of ancestors were produced for the purpose of legitimisation: aristocratic families displayed long lines of both real and fictive forebears. They had themselves painted in similar poses to their imaginary ancestors, and vice versa: fictive predecessors were also painted from fine precursors, the Batthyánys being one example. The exhibition also features some royal portraits: Ferdinand III as King of Hungary, in Hungarian attire, with the Holy Crown m the background, or the miniature of Christina of Austria (Maria Christierna), wife of the Prince of Transylvania, Sigismund Báthory. Examples in the exhibition of the funerary portrait, which combined the portrait with funerary representation, are those of Kristóf Lackner, Protestant mayor, György Zichy, Funerary portrait ot Kristóf Lackner mayor of Sopron (JM631) Sopron, Soproni Evangélikus Gyűjtemények