Mikó Árpád szerk.: Reneissance year 2008 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2008/1)
Words of Greeting
WORDS OF GREETING The 550 th anniversary of King Matthias' accession to the throne has been declared the Renaissance Year in Hungary. Museums and arts institutions will be devoting many of their events to presentations and reassessments of the Renaissance legacy. The scope is very wide, because in almost every area of life we can find something whose roots go back to the philosophy of the Renaissance Age, the lives of great Renaissance artists and the way people lived at that time. For someone living in the first decade of the 2T C century and wishing to get an authentic grasp of the Renaissance tradition, it is essential to have a clear overview of the culture which emerged in that great period. What makes the Hungarian Renaissance all the more interesting is that by virtue of the outstanding personality of one ruler, King Matthias, the everyday developments of the time, coupled with the magnificent products of court art, brought the Kingdom of Hungary to one of the cultural high points of its history. Architecture, literature, music and art in King Matthias' time were jointly defined by developments m Europe and the Carpathian Basin. Building on these historical foundations, four Budapest institutions have joined together to put on exhibitions which will serve as the historical background for the Renaissance Year as a whole. They cover separate but complementary areas of Renaissance culture, and each is interesting m itself: Hungarian humanism and book art of the time m the National Library; Matthias' court in the Budapest History Museum, which is the repository of the remains of that court, and has also brought in many items on loan; the legacy of King Matthias, i.e. the art of the late Renaissance, in the Hungarian National Gallery; and the "dowry of Queen Beatrix", the art of 15 th century Majolica pottery in Europe and Hungary, in the Museum of Applied Arts. The staff of these four establishments trust that their exhibitions, based on new research and presenting beautiful and historically authentic objects, will evoke the world of the 1 5 th and 16 th centuries in a way which will serve as a guide to all events of the Renaissance Year seeking the legacy of that era in every area of life. So when the Renaissance makes its appearance through dress, behaviour or the expression of human attitudes and world-views, these historical exhibitions will serve as points of reference and information. We have been encouraged in this hope by the realisation that our collaboration itself reflects the Renaissance legacy in many ways: common thinking and coordinated work, appreciation and respect for each others' activities, and exemplary harmony of professional relationships, all in stark contrast to the atomised world of today. We sincerely hope that the faith and honesty which has gone into this work, and the coordination of the various subjects will find a response in the interest and appreciation of the public.
