Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2008)

ANNUAL REPORT • A 2008. ÉV - AXEL VÉCSEY: The Splendour of the Medici: Art and Life in Renaissance Florence

2 INTERIOR VIEW OF THE EXHIBITION The second section explored the rise of the Medici. In addition to the famous Pater Patriae medal, two masterly executed portraits must be highlighted: a monumentally conceived portrait by Andrea Mantegna most probably representing Cardinal Carlo de' Medici and a terracotta bust of Lorenzo il Magnifico by a follower of Verrocchio, which is almost shocking in its penetrating naturalism. A splendid, ancient Roman bust of Agrippa

—probably a diplomatic gift from Pope Sixtus IV to Lorenzo il Magnifico

—effectively demonstrated that already in this period, foreign powers were treating the Medici as rulers. However, despite the family's increasing power republican institutions were still strong during this period and the power of rival families was considerable. One of the most impressive pieces in the exhibition was a wooden model by Brunelleschi for the dome of Florence Cathedral, which epitomised the huge undertaking that was made to demonstrate the power of the republic. The dazzling masterpieces in the third chapter of the exhibition provided a comprehensive picture of Florentine art in the quattrocento, with relatively few works directly linked to the Medici. However, among these was one of Botticelli's chief works, Pallas and the Centaur, which became the exhibition's emblem. Some of the other works included Masolino's terse and monumental figure of Saint Julian from the triptych of the Camesecchi family; Paolo Uccello's