Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 97. (Budapest, 2002)
The Year 2002
Ender's watercolours do not only depict the palace itself, but its larger surroundings, as well. One of them shows the lane leading to the façade of the principal building, with luxuriant, green trees and plants in huge tubs on both sides (fig. 63). The artist turning his back on the entrance also painted the houses and the Calvinist church beyond the fence. The ancient stonewalls, encircling the garden and hindering the view into the distance, were replaced by a grated fence at the request of Antal III Grassalkovich's wife, Leopoldina Esterházy. Although the emphasis is laid on the details, the real theme of the watercolour is the minutely elaborated, lush vegetation, which is enlivened with some Staffage in Ender's typical manner. The other watercolour shows the palace in the centre, among gently rolling hills (fig. 64). At the beginning of the 19th century, the large park underwent radical changes: Leopoldina Esterházy had the Baroque garden transformed into an English garden following the taste of the age. 9 According to the testimony of Ender's watercolour, the arable lands were also integrated into the garden. Gödöllő's geographical endowments especially encouraged the new horticultural conception preferring diversity and naturalness. The contemporary descriptions gave detailed accounts of the magnificence of the garden, which could be visited for free and was available for everyone for short walks and couch trips. The third watercolour represents the farm of Babat and its environs (fig. 65). From the main building, a path lined with trees led to the northeast, to the so-called stable manor. The history of the U-shaped manor containing both residence rooms and stables can be traced back to the 1750s; its reconstruction in the neoclassical style took place around 1816-20. On Ender's watercolour, the building almost melts into the woody downs. The Viennese artist also in Gödöllő worked with the precision and care typical of him, although we have no information whether he was working for a commission. Fie had a sense to discover beauty in the simplest elements of his surroundings, and his exceptional skill guaranteed the realistic record of landscapes. The three watercolours are modest contributions to Thomas Ender's rich oeuvre, nevertheless, due to their subject matter, they are of high historical value for us. 10 ZSUZSA GONDA Translated by Tamás Karáth 9 M. Szilágyi Kinga, A gödöllői kastélypark története - a rekonstrukció elvi szempontjai, in Királyi és hercegi kertek Magyarországon (ed. Alföldi, G.), Budapest 2001, 26—41. 10 The three watercolours have been put on long-term loan by the Museum of Fine Arts to the Museum of the Gödöllő Palace.
