Tátrai Vilmos szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 90-91.(Budapest, 1999)

VARGA, LÍVIA: The Reconsideration of the Portrait Reliefs of King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490), and Queen Beatrix of Aragon (1476-1508)

qualities are brought to the fore here, of a type also found on the miniature portraits of the king in the Codex Hieronymus (fig. 35).

41 The intention behind this type of representation was to establish the king's image not only as rex invictissimus, but also as the magnanimous king, a self assured, merciful, wise and just ruler, as he later appears in folk tales. In this respect, the type corresponds to that of the Angevin King, René a contemporary of Matthias, who was often represented and called the "good King René".

42 Indeed, in its rather inconspicuous way, the relief carries a political meaning in an age when Matthias was also represented abroad as Attila, with all the negative connotations attached to his name.

43 Not only the type, but also the all'antica style of the reliefs was a conscious choice of the humanists, who determined the framework of Matthias' rule, and especially so after his marriage to Beatrix of Aragon in 1476.

44 Previous research has concentrated on the attribution of the reliefs, leading to many suppositions concerning their authorship. It is hardly possible to find an important sculptor from Quattrocento Italy whose name has not been associated with the works. Earlier scholarship preferred Verrocchio, Benedetto da Maiano, Francesco Laurana, Giovanni Dalmata, Desiderio da Settignano, while the last name to be added to the list of potential sculptors of the reliefs was that of Giancristoforo Romano.

45 Jolán Balogh attributed the works to an unidentified Lombard-Milanese master who, she argued, made Matthias' relief representation from a medal bearing on its verso, the inscription ANIMVS REGIS REGNA NOB IL ITA T ET OBSCVRA T, while its recto shows the profile of the king. She consequently dated both works to the second part of the 1480s (figs. 29, 36).

46 The reliefs' Italian Renaissance style was never questioned, but there is a considerable difference of opinion as to whether this style came from Florentine or North Italian sources. The difficulty resides in the fact that the reliefs do not show a unique and unmistakable style characteristic of a particular Italian region or city state. The master of the reliefs seems to have learned his profession in several parts of Italy, for his style is eclectic, his volumes are somewhat heavy, and his representational ability, although very good, is not of the highest order. There is a master who worked for King Matthias, whose presence in Hungary is 41 Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, cod. lat. 930, folio 1 r. 42 Meiss, M., Andrea Mantegna as Illuminator, New York, 1957, p. 37, fig. 30; Robin, F., La court d Anjou-Provence. La vie artistique sous le règne de René, Paris, 1985, pp. 30ff, 244ff. 43 Vayer. L., Von Faunus Ficarius bis zu Matthias Corvinus. Beiträge zur Ikonographie des osteuropäischen Humanismus, Acta Históriáé Artium 13 (1967), pp. 191-196; Mikó, A.. Divinus Hercules és Attila Secundus. Mátyás király műpártolásának humanista aspektusai (Divinus Hercules and Attila Secundus. The Humanist Aspects of the Patronage of King Matthias), Ars Hungarica 1991/2, pp. 149-156. 44 Marosi, op. cit. (n. 3 1 ) pp. 289-291. 45 See Balogh's bibliography in her A művészet Mátyás király udvarában, 1966, pp. 289-291 ; Gerevich, op. cit. (n. 2) pp. 15 32. 46 Balogh, op. cit. (Mátyás király, n. 3) pp. 449-450.