A Herman Ottó Múzeum évkönyve 50. (2011)

MŰVÉSZETTÖRTÉNET - PIRINT Andrea: A Napóleon-kultusz képzőművészeti emlékei képes levelezőlapokon

456 Pirin t Andrea THE ART RELICS OF NAPOLEON CULT ON POSTCARDS Keywords: postcards edition, cult history, Napoleon iconography, propaganda art The Zemplén Museum of Szerencs preserves the most complete national collection of foreign and Hungarian postcards. The postcards are ordered by themes. One of these groups contains 632 pieces connecting with Napoleon I. Besides the concrete depictions, it includes the barely associative illustrations. Thus, the postcards represent the historical time and the cult being round the historical person up to this day from the military and political rising of the Bonapartes through the episodes of the career and military actions of Napoleon I. to the remembrance after his death. This study offers brief survey about the types and topics of illustrations, the age, the origin and the publishers of the postcards, too. The earliest posted piece of this group is from 1898, while the latest is from 1985. The most items were utilized between 1907 and 1915 mainly in Hungary. One part of the postcards were published in series named after Napoleon. The study shows the European story of the memory of Napoleon and its considerable phases. It was proved, that the centenarian anniversary gave the cult a new considerable push. The postcards about Napoleon became very frequent in the beginning of the 20

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h century and the cause of it can be also the centenary, which aroused the interest about him. A separate chapter examines the art illustrations of the postcards and their prefigurations. Assorting from among the outstanding relics of painting, sculpture, and the reproduced graphics, the characteristic types of Napoleon iconography are also represented through the postcards. Some of them are not simple reproduction, but specifically self-sufficing works of art. The centenary expanded the iconography, too. The last and perhaps the most exciting chapter of the study is about the manuscript messages of the postcards. One part of the messages — more or less — represents likewise the thinking of contemporary people about Napoleon. We can get information about the devotion of the sender or the addressee to Napoleon in some cases. During the examination of the messages, a separate postcard collection about Napoleon was come to light. It was compiled by a maiden lady in Zemplén County between 1902 and 1913. We could identify only 32 pieces of the private collection of Margit Kéler, which were sent to her by post. We presented the postcards about Napoleon from the side of the history of art and culture. The research of this collection in the respect of publishing postcards is the task of the near future. Our aim is to prepare an illustrated album, which can show not only the history of Napoleon legend and his iconography, but also the history of the postcard edition in the world through the museum pieces with precisely data. Andrea Pirint