Jávor Anna - Lubomír Slavícek szerk.: Késő barokk impressziók, Franz Anton Maulbertsch (1724-1796) és Josef Winterhalder (1743-1807) (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai)

Jávor Anna: „Láttam én tornyait Szily templomának". Maulbertsch és Winterhalder Szombathelyen

Anna Jávor "I have seen the spires of Bishop Szily's church..." Maulbertsch and Winterhalder in the town of Szombathely When in 1798 Josef Winterhalder undertook to paint the walls and ceilings of Szombathely Cathedral on the sketches of Maulbertsch, his former master who had died one and a half years earlier, it was an unusual project, even though not without precedent in the 18th century. The chronicle of this gigantic work is well documented, the sketchs have also survived and are available. The frescoes themselves were destroyed in the spring of 1945, the same time when Maulbertsch's altar-pieces were also fatally damaged. The independent Diocese of Szombathely was established by Queen Maria Theresa in 1777. Her first bishop János Szily started, on the example of Rome, to create a new church centre in neo-classical, late Baroque style: he had a seminary and episcopal palace built by Tyrolean architect Melchior Hefele, and laid the foundation stone of the huge cathedral in 1791. Szily already got to know Maulbertsch when he was a canon of the City of Győr in 1772. He also intended to have him paint the ceremonial hall of the Szombathely residence, but the artist's duties in the town of Pápa had long hindered that plan. In the autumn of 1783 the ceiling fresco of the hall was completed in brilliant colours: it praises divine providence, evoking the glorious past of the town of ancient Savaria in the age of Rome. Here, as at Pápa, Johann Maidinger and Martin Rummel served as his assistants; the former can be proved to have worked near Maulbertsch at Pozsony (1781), while the latter already did so at Székesfehérvár (1768). Szily oudined the painting programme of the cathedral in 1791. A cycle of the Virgin on the ceiling leads to the high altar of the Visitation corresponding to the title of the church. Side altarpieces of saints of local importance, those of Quirinus and St Martin were placed in a stressed position in the transept. Finally Szily had Stephan Doiffmaister of Sopron paint two of the six side altars. Maulbertsch worked on sketches for the altar pictures from spring 1791 ; they travelled between Vienna and Szombathely by post. The bishop wrote his critical remarks in the letters, and work on the altarpieces began in September. The first four paintings were transported by a wagon to Szombathely the next spring. The painter gave detailed instructions how to unpack and store the works: the rolled-up large canvases were mounted on the blind frames again after unpacking. The huge picture of the high altar was completed in 1792, too, as the canvas had to be ordered separately from Upper Austria. The genesis of the Visitation is revealed by an exchange of letters and the second oil sketch, now in the Benedictine abbey of Pannonhalma: the positioning of the main figures in it is the inverse of the final picture; the composition is reminiscent of the high altar fresco of Vác from the 1770s. For the final version Maulbertsch also drew on an earlier work of his. The Bratislava / Pozsony Visitation's light-handed brushwork dates it to the 1760s but there is an extant variant from the 1790s possibly by a pupil. At that time Martin Michl was his assistant. Michl is best known for the ceiling frescoes of the Lyceum of Eger. The frescoes were planned from 1794. The Annunciation was meant for the sanctuary and the Presentation of Mary to the main dome, yet the first theme he elaborated in the sketches was the Presentation of Jesus which is preserved today in Klosterneuburg. In the meantime Maulbertsch also worked in the library of the Premonstratensian abbey of Strahov. By late 1795 the sketch of the ceiling fresco was ready: the birth of Mary. The church vaulting was not yet built when Maulbertsch died on 8 August 1796. Bishop Szily asked the advice of Maulbertsch' fatherin-law Jakob Schmutzer, the founder of the Viennese engraving academy about how to complete the work in Szombathely. He recommended Josef Winterhalder from Znojmo / Znaim, sending a list of the painter's works completed so far. He also went to see the fresco at the Premonstratensian church of Zábrdovice / Obrowitz about which he reported in appreciative terms. Winterhalder did not appear before the end of 1797. The contract was signed