Várhelyi Ilona: Bibliával Munkácsy Krisztus-trilógiája előtt (Debrecen, 2009)

Abstract

Mihály Munkácsy's Christ Trilogy has been on display with great success in the Déri Museum in Debrecen (with some interruptions) since 1995. The three huge canvasses were not even seen together by Munkácsy himself. In recent years, the troubled fate of the pictures has drawn special attention to the Trilogy and its creator. In my analysis I will be making an attempt at the biblical interpretation of the paintings and trying to present a more subtle image of the artist's world view. Each of the three monumental canvasses present the passion of Jesus Christ condensed into a complex scene. The size, colours and life-like characterisation of the paintings arouse admiration even in the casual spectator, regardless of religious orientation. However, there is a persistent view that these pictures are too obvious, theatrical and far below the aesthetic level of Munkácsy's other works. I would like to show that the above judgement is hasty and superficial. Munkácsy, as we shall see, did not only depict the passion, but was also very deeply affected by that theme. He included his confession in the colours, sending to posterity a symbolic message hidden behind the spectacular scenes. Motivation Art historical documents reveal that Munkácsy was first rather reluctant to deal with the theme of the Passion, since he was familiar with his great predecessors' and contemporaries' works. For a long time he thought he had nothing new to say about the suffering that had led to salvation. As early as 1874, Lajos Haynald, Archbishop of Kalocsa and a patron of the arts, encouraged him as well as Franz Liszt to create biblically inspired works. In addition, in Paris he perceived that the figure of Jesus Christ occupied the minds of contemporary Europeans very much. A lot of public discussion was triggered by Ernst Renan's popular book titled Vie de Jesus, which was banned by church authorities. The old debate on the interpretation of Jesus' divine or human nature flared up every now and again in the Parisian artists' circles Munkácsy attended, and it was more and more the human nature that received emphasis. Both the popular interest and Renan's personal influence played a considerable role in his decision to yield to Karl Sedelmayer's persuasion and — yet without the vision of a trilogy — start painting his first picture about Christ. Munkácsy's narration The monumental

1 Christ before Pilate, finished in 1881, provides the spectacle of a scene that is life-like in every minute detail. We can see real faces and personalities. The painter chose his models from Jews in Paris waiting for emigration. Yet the apparent realism of the work is illusory. Munkácsy condensed the temporal and spatial elements of the history of events into a single scene with the help of associative symbols. By interpreting the symbols the spectator takes a moral stand, but first it was the artist who had to be clear about what Jesus actually meant to him. 1

417 X 636 cm. Its present owner is the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Canada.