Lengyel László (szerk.): Devóció és dekoráció - 18. és 19. századi korolstormunkák Magyarországon - Studia Agriensia 7. (Eger, 1987)

Summary

dressable statues of Mary and the reliquary altar decorations decorated with nuns’ work came into our material, to demonstrate that the nuns or respectively the convent wors played an equal and important role in the most valuable scenes of Baroque religious life — on the altar — with the high art of the period.

Apar from the aims of individual faith polion decorated relics came to be used by the church too as altar decorations. The glittering gold-silver threaded reliquary altar decorations increased the representative splendour of the Baroque altar sculpture which aspired to imaginary effects.

In most cases the ornamental relics were placed under glass and lowered into the unified altar decorations. Because of such decoration types were the Minorite Church and the Jesuit Church in Eger and the Church of St. John of Nepomuk in Székesfehérvár well known.' In the country perhaps the most splendid altars decorated with nuns’ work can be seen in the Church of St. Anna in Pest (which was once a Servite Church).

Those pair of works which ae safeguarded in the Servite Sacristy in Eger and resemble altar pyramid forms belong to the type of the moveable altar decorations-(111. 36 — 37.). Similar to these are kept in the Chapel at the Mater Dolorosa cemetery in Eger, in the Chapel of St. Roch at Duna- földvár and on the side altar of the Parish Church at Homokkomárom (111. 38 — 39.). On the altar of St. Florian and St. Joseph Minorite Church in Eger gilded-carved wooden framed reliquaries which also belong to this sphere, can be seen (111. 40 — 41.).

The creation of corpus reliquaries which were made for church or personal use directly continue from medieval traditions. One of the best Baroque corpus reliquaries wich were made for church use is the one which is safeguarded in the Cathedral Sacristy at Győr (111. 42 — 43.).

Our most beautiful reliquary corpuses which are for personal use derive from a famous German place of pilgrimage, Oberammergau (111. 44 — 46.). Among the reliquary works there are some nun works enframed with individual image claim. The most representative piece of this type from the 18th century is the Mosonmagyaróvár nun work which was safeguarded in the Capuchin Parish Church and probably made in Rome (111. 47.). Compositions of such type were made in the 19th century, too, and one of convent works of the Tokaj Museum is an example for that, that the popularity of the cult did not decrease.

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