Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 97. (Budapest, 2002)

NÉMETH, ISTVÁN: A Generous Gift or a Healthy Compromise? Some Contributions to the Background of the Donation of a Painting by El Greco

influenced by two determinative factors: my immense love for my country and my friendship towards you, by which I feel highly honoured all the time. It is good to know that my donation makes an invaluable contribution to the museum s collections just when any major acquisition is prevented by the adverse economic conditions of our mutilated tiny country. Even though I am to temporarily relocate my place of residence to a foreign country, the ties between me and my nation are not supposed to get broken. Just on the contrary, for I will go my own, designated way, being entirely positive about that I can be of better service to the cause of Hungarian art and, by means of that, the nation itself out in there, and being gratify ingly aware that you will understand it. With kind regards and in true friendship, Yours faithfully, Marcell Nemes " Notwithstanding that the above cited letter would appear to explain fully the timing of the donation of The Penitent Magdalen and the emotional inducement that lies behind it, we still have to express certain reservations about these being the exclusive motives that made Nemes act as he did. Although the reference to Nemes' moving abroad that he made at the end of his personal-toned letter to Petrovics may appear to be of marginal importance, certain circumstances seem to provide grounds for the suggestion that this event had much more to do with the famous Greco's accession to the Museum's collections than we would guess. One of the reasons to suppose it is the official memorandum, dated July 14, 1921, in which the director of the Museum of Fine Arts gives report on the donation for the Minister of Religion and Education:" "To the Minister of Education The Honourable Marcell Nemes of Jánoshalma, Royal Counsellor, who is relocating his residence to Munich and has the intention to convey part of his art collection there, as well, have on this occasion bestowed a painting by Greco (Domenico Theotocopuli), titled The Saint Magdalen on the museum under my direction. The picture was made around 1580 and is one of the principal works dating from the master's early period in Toledo. This magnificent gift of Mr Nemes surpasses, both in value and importance, everything that our institution has received from a single person for a long time past. Any great European museum would be proud of this painting by Greco; one may hardly overestimate the importance of Mr Nemes' superb gift with which he has crowned the rich sequence of donations he had made until now, especially when considering how " See the file numbered 603/1921 in the archives of our museum.