Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 32. (Budapest, 2018)
Miklós GÁLOS: An Antonio Tempesta Rediscovered in the Collection of the Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest
ing are also unpainted; their form is provided by the exposed support. In this respect too, the Budapest picture resembles this work in the Louvre: the bowl in front of the group of figures in the foreground of Crossing the Red Sea is also represented by unpainted stone; painted embellishment is limited to the rim of the bowl. Parallels to several figures in Pearl Diving can also be found in the Budapest painting. The head position of the man seated in the bow of the boat resembles that of the young woman looking up at Moses. The female nude sitting in the lower left corner of the Louvre’s painting is a close relative in terms of type and posture to the mother figure in the foreground of the Budapest image, while the hair and facial type are reflected in the female figure next to the dog in the left of the Budapest work. A comparison of the details of the two works not only confirms the attribution of the Budapest work to Tempesta but also clearly demonstrates that the quality of the newly discovered work matches that of the Louvre’s painting. Yet, the closest analogy to the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts’ picture in many respects is not Pearl Diving but rather a painting that cropped up in 2014 in the Gallery Di Castro in Rome.25 (Figs. 9-10) The lapis lazuli slab, painted on both sides, has survived in its original frame, the opening of which is surprisingly similar in shape to that of the Budapest painting. The ebony-coloured frame of the Di Castro painting has mother-of-pearl inlays on one side. The size of the image field is almost completely identical to that of the Budapest work: 25 x 45 cm.26 Alongside the conspicuous similarities are some smaller differences. Unlike the work in the Di Castro collection, the Budapest painting has a double frame; the unusually shaped insert is placed in a regular, rectangular outer frame. Furthermore, the sections connecting the two ovals in the Budapest painting are slightly curved, but in the Di Castro painting it is straight. Also, the Budapest painting has a gilt copper trim enclosing the image field. The motifs used in the mother-of-pearl intarsias in the frame of the Di Castro painting consist of leaf ornaments in the corners, a winged mask at the top, and a string of fruit at the bottom. The inlays of the Budapest frame are lost, but we can imagine similar mother-of-pearl intarsias. The motifs for the most part differ, but the bouquets in the corners of the Di Castro frame appear in the corners of the insert in the Budapest painting in a somewhat reduced form, adjusted to the narrower space. (Fig. 11) The painting from the Di Castro collection also depicts biblical scenes. The recto shows Joseph being sold, the typological 1 11. Decoration with bouquet and leaves from the insert of the Budapest painting’s frame. Partially repaired state 17
