Verhovayak Lapja, 1940. július-december (23. évfolyam, 27-52. szám)

1940-10-31 / 44. szám

.October 31, 1940 Verhovayak Lapja Page 3 Photographs from the King Matthias Exhibition — New York Public Library, Oct* 16*27,1940 KING MATTHIAS EXHIBITION AT THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 1440—1940 Matthias Corvinus was king of Hungary from 1458 to 1490, and during that brief period the Re naissance reached its highest level in Hungary. King Matthias held a prominent position among the European monarchs as a lavish patron of art and science. His Royal Palace at Budapest be­came the center of learning and arts. Poets and artists flocked in great numbers to the court of King Matthias while Hungarian "scholars, bards and artists were equally welcome guests at the courts and other centers of learn­ing in western Europe. His name is bound up with the foundation of the universities at Buda and Pozsony and with the creation of the first Hungarian scientific society, the members of which were eminent scholars of the age. He reorganized education and, by sending hundreds of youths to foreign universities, forged cultur­al and literary links with west­ern Europe. ' King Matthias developed a taste for fine manuscripts, a taste which was no doubt fostered by his cultivated wife, Beatrice of Naples. Fine manuscripts were both imported and written (il­luminated) at Buda in abudance until there was a library of some three thousand priceless volumes. Today these manuscripts are valued from ten thousand to one hundred thousand dollars. From this famous collection ori­ginates the four illuminated C'odexes, exhibited among others at the New York Public Library. I These four manuscripts are ad­mirably suited to serve us as examples of the library of Cor­vinus, since they are so varied in nature: j 1) The Tacitus manuscript is noteworthy because it is of a classical author, retains its ori­ginal binding, and because it shows to a high degree the ef­fects of study and correction. j Exhibitor: Yale University. ; ! 2) The Didymus manuscript has been studied mostly because of its excellent illumination and miniatures. The illumination is this manuscript’s greatest claim to fame. It is an excellent ex­ample of Matthias’ treatment of religious manuscripts in its elabo­ration. The script is a very good humanistic hand of the fifteenth century, very careful and rather larger than is normal. The bind­ing is an ordinary Italian vellum binding perhaps of the eighteenth century. There is an elaborate title page and a frontis-piece showing St. Jerome in his study with a view of Florence in the background. King Matthias is re­presented kneeling in the borders with his queen, Beatrice of Naples, and other members of his family. The manuscript is signed and dated by the scribe, Sigismundus do Sigismuudis. Exhibitor: Morgan Library. 5) The Cicero manuscript is divided into eight distinct por­tions. These eight parts of the book are distinguished from each other most clearly in two ways. In the first place, each section has on its first folium elaborate illumination, consisting of a large illuminated first letter, a coat of arms and decorations on three of the margins. In the second place, the entire book consists of gather­ings in quinternions. The script is in a good hand of the fifteenth century, very careful and clear, with only a few slight correc­tions. The present binding is of brown calf with a design in blind stamping; it is probably an Italian binding of the nineteenth century. Perhaps the most inter­esting fact about the entire manu­script is the long note at the end, covering some four pages. It fur­nishes us with a catalogue which is most important in the history of manuscripts and text traditions. Exhibitor: Morgan Library. 4) The Livy manuscript is re­markable as a fine, straightforward manuscript which is likewise in­trinsically valuable as a book. It is unusually handsome and well­­preserved, and presents an extra­ordinary opportunity to study its text and its relation to the other manuscripts of this part of Livy. This script is an unusually fine humanistic one of the Roman type of the fifteenth century, clear and graceful throughout The binding is French—circa 1800. Exhibitor; New York Public- Library, The exhibition arranged by the Hungarian Reference Library of New York was opened on October lGth with a festive program. Par­ticipating artists were: Anne Roselle, soprano, former member of the Metropolitan Opera House; Dr. Otto Herz, her accompanist; Dr. Walter Allan, instructor in Classics at Yale University; Ste­phen V. Grancsay, Curator of Armor at the Metropolitan Mu­seum of Art; and Dr. Tibor de Kerekes, professor of history at Georgetown University. The exhibition closed on October 27, 1940.------------------O-----------------­MILLION DOLLAR BOOK EXHIBIT A unique exhibit of wonder­fully bound, lavishly painted, medieval handwritten books was opened for a period of two con­secutive weeks on October 16th at the New York Public Library. All these books came from the famous library of Matthias Cor­vinus, one time king of Hungary, whose 500th anniversary is being celebrated this year by the scho­lastic and artistic world on both continents. King Matthias, powerful ruler of the XVth century, elevated Hungary, whose population at that time was greater than even that of England, to the position of a first class military and economic power, rivaling many other na­tions of medieval Europe. The famous king was the lavish patron of art, literature and music; his library and palace at Budapest was praised as one of the wonders of the world. Nearly a million dollars worth of books, all formerly belonging to King Matthias’ library, were lent for the exhibition by the Yale University, Morgan Library and other famous libraries of America. During the exhibition the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York had on display the ivory bow and arrow of King Matthias and a number of art relics of his time. Gothic Gilded Silver Chalice... Made for King Matthias Corvinus ol Hungary. Bearing his Coat-of-Arms... 15th Century. Exhibited for the first time in this country... Its identity was recently discovered in this country and it was first brought here shortly after the Revolu tion of 1948, from Hungary, by a political refugee who was a membei of the entourage of Louis Kossuth. Negotiations are uuder way with the Hungarian Government for its acquisition for the permanent collection of the National Museum at Budapest, It is -the only Chalice known to exist bearing the coat-of-arms oi Matthias Corvinus and the only silver work which has survived from his. personal collection. Heightíi: seven inches. Diameter of base: five and one-eighth inches. Diameter of cup: three and three-quarter inches. 4 C«urte»y of E. & A, Silberman Gall-ertes, Inn. ■4/ . :y\ Opening page of the Didymus manuscript, showing St. Jerome in hn study with a view of Florence in the background. King Matthias i* represented kneeling in the borders with his queen, Beatrice of Naoles. From the collection of the Morgan Library. 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