Horler Miklós: Budapest 1. budai királyi palota 1. Középkori idomtégla töredékek (Magyarország építészeti töredékeinek gyűjteménye 4. Budapest, 1995) (Magyarország építészeti töredékeinek gyűjteménye 4. Budapest, 1998)

András Végh: Medieval Terracotta finds from the royal Palace of Buda

3. Art-Historical Significance of the Terracotta Finds of Buda There seems to be no doubt that the masters who worked on the palaces of Buda came from northern Italy. They brought with them the patterns as well as the knowledge of the technology of making terracotta elements. In spite of the fact that none of the buildings which we presume to have been built by them, can be studied today, on the basis of the excavated pieces it is very likely that terracotta architecture played a major role in the rebuilding of the royal palace. The great number of decorative elements is remarkable, as is the variety of the pieces, especially if we compare them to some of the Italian buildings. The windows of the Italian palazzi don't usually vary within the same façade, and the same is true of the friezes. The variety of the fragments found in Buda therefore suggest that they had formed parts of several buildings. The palace buildings erected in Buda at the end of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century seem to have responded to a wide range of influence. As far as stone carvings are concerned, stylistic links to the Parlerian Czech and south German architecture have already been pointed out. Certain considerations of style also suggest links with the royal court of France and the papal court at Avignon.

120 Further, based on the terracotta finds, Italy has to be considered as direct source of influence. It is regretable that it was not possible to identity' the ruler, under whose reign the buildings were completed. This would greatly help the further studies of the Italian link. The strong link between Hungary and Italy in questions of art as well as the humanities at that time is a known fact.

121 It is unnecessary to discuss in detail the significance of resident Italians in Buda, or the presence of Italian nobles and learned men at the royal court, or for that matter the predominant Italian education of the Hungarian clergy at both the higher and middle level.

122 The link in architecture is represented by the terracotta pieces.

123 This attachment is especially interesting if we bare in mind the renaissance reconstruction of the palace. King Matthias I Corvinus was not the only, or the first ruler who turned toward Italy for example, and master builders, when renovating his royal seat. In fact we must realize that because the Italian architectural language had been known, the new style of the Italian Renaissance was probably not that strange when it appeared in Buda for the first time outside Italy under the rule of King Matthias. Many of the Classical motifs on the terracotta fragments will later reappear on Renaissance carvings. The repeated Italian orientation present in the architectural history of the royal palace of Buda is a remarkable feature which should fundamentally influence our view of the art at the court. Another fact, however, must also be remembered. While Renaissance architecture in the time of King Matthias I Corvinus set an example to follow for other monarches as well as for the whole of Hungary, the style of the terracotta pieces

—as far as we can tell at this moment

—had no such impact. We do not know of other Italian style terracotta buildings in the country, or in any other part of this region north of the Alps. Therefore, the terracotta palaces in the castle has to be interpreted as an individual achievement in a royal court that had international connections and was involved in international politics. The terracottas and the Renaissance buildings of the reign of King Matthias I Corvinus are linked together also through their afterlife. On the ground of archaeological observations we are inclined to think that the renaissance renovations involved terracotta buildings also. From this respect terracotta buildings in Buda shared the fate of their Italian brothers: they fell victim to the spreading new style. IX. CONCLUSION The terracotta fragments discovered in Buda form a significant part of the architectural fragments of the royal palace. Most of the approximately 800 bricks were made at the same time, yet they form but a modest part of all the stone and brick that was used and reused for the different buildings of the royal palace. Beside one major group others, consisting of fewer fragments and made in different workshops, can also be identified among the debris of the different fallen buildings. We have endeavoured to examine and present the pieces thoroughly and hope that thus we contributed to enriching our knowledge of the former royal palace, even if the picture will have to remain a blurred one of palaces built by Italian masters in the royal seat of medieval Buda.