Gosztonyi Ferenc - Király Erzsébet - Szücs György szerk.: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Évkönyve 2002-2004. 24/9 (MNG Budapest, 2005)

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH. PHD THESES AT THE HUNGARIAN NATIONAL GALLERY - Györgyi Poszler: Gothic Panel Painting and Wood Sculpture in Western Hungary

a subject of worship frequently led to the 'reparation' - supplementation, recarving - of the sculptures, the changing of their original condition. Usage in churches - with demands of a flawless look and aesthetic homogeneity - goes on to influence restoration practice to this day. Such demands give free way to additions, reconstructions, as in the case of the Madonna of the Ják church which was repainted almost entirely. An important task involved in cataloguing was to broaden research concerning the objects' provenance and original location of use, including the analysis of the social contexts in which the works were commissioned and used. This is easiest in the case of objects still kept in churches, most of which can with certainty be tied to a particular place - as in the case of Madonnas in Ják, Kőszeg and Sopron -, especially when, as in Ják, written sources corroborate this. The present location cannot always be considered original or even medieval, as illustrated by the Madonna sculpture kept at the Dozmat vicarage, or the Pietà in the Nagybajcs church. In the case of pieces with unknown origins it was necessary to make excursions into the history and fate of aristocratic collections - like those of the Jankovich, Batthyány, Festetics, Darnay and Wolf families -, and consider partly uncatalogued sources in the hope of finding data for the identification of works or their place of origin. Identification included presenting the original function as thoroughly as possible. The function of a piece determined its iconography, and often its form and mode of execution. Interpretation and art historical evaluation had to start with a recognition of the pieces' functional detenni nation. A description and identification of the works that relies on historical and technical research provides for a more valid and accurate analysis and critique of style. Beside revealing stylistic kinship or analogies between individual works, analysis must always seek to establish stylistic relationships which historical reality supports. In every case, analysis must consider several aspects to determine whether similarities derive from the direct influence of a particular work or artistic centre, from common origins (the same artist or studio), or are merely indicative of the parallel development of styles which may or may not have had the same model. In certain cases it is possible to identify those works, groups of works or studios which served as original models or transferred these models to Hungary. As regards stylistic kinship, however, we must not forget about prints and engravings, very popular at the time, which managed to communicate compositions, details or stylistic elements even between regions that lay far apart. Cataloguing individual works may enable us to outline the art of late medieval Western Hungaiy. Recognizing connections between works form this region may bring into relief certain developments, while related works may allow us to partially reconstruct studios. It may become possible to identify the directions towards which the works attributed to Western Hungary oriented, and a historically verifiable system of connections, in which the relevant panel painting and wood sculpture can be positioned, may be described. The opponents of the dissertation were Imre Takács and János Végh, who suggested the degree be awarded 'summa cum laude' (2001), and the dissertation be published. Meanwhile a smaller portion had appeared: A Régi Magyar Gyűjtemény új szerzeménye: Gótikus Madonna-szobor feltehetően a Dunántúlról (A New Acquisition in the Old Hungarian Collection: Gothic Madonna Sculpture, Probably from Western Hungary). In: A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria Evkönyve (Annales de la Galerie Nationale Hongroise) 1997-2001. Etudes sur l'histoire de l'art en honneur de Katalin Sinkó. Budapest 2002, pp. 31-34. Several of its findings were used in a 2002 exhibition of the Hungarian National Gallery: Árpád Mikó (ed.): Jankovich Miklós (1772-1846) gyűjteményei (The Collections of Miklós Jankovich [1772-1846]).