Mikó Árpád szerk.: Reneissance year 2008 (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2008/1)

PÉTER FARBAKY, ÁRPÁD MIKO, ENIKŐ SPEKNER, KORNÉL SZOVÁK, ISTVÁN TRINGLI, ANDRÁS VÉGH: Matthias Corvinus, the King. Tradition and Renewal in the Hungarian Royal Court, 1458-1490

Matthias also spent time in Olomouc (Olmütz) and Wroclaw (Breslau), but erected no buildings there. In the last period of his life, after 1485, he spent more time in Vienna than Buda, almost certainly in the Burg, the residence of the Austrian dukes. The sources tell of the construction of renaissance hanging gardens here, too. Matthias and personal devotion Matthias' ecclesiastical policy gives the impression that, in matters of fiith, the King was influenced by the antichurch phenomena current at the time. The King's personal religious conduct, however, challenges such a superficial observation. The humanists in his court regularly highlighted Matthias' deep religiosity. The roots of Matthias' religious conviction may be traced to his upbringing, influenced by the conduct of his mother and father, and particularly by his tutor, János Vitéz, Bishop of Várad (Oradea), who also drew Matthias' attention to the power of art and its potential significance for promoting the family name. The relative weight of personal and political motives in the deeds of a monarch is not always easy to distinguish. Politics are sufficient to explain Matthias' wars against the Hussites and his strugChasuble with the Virgin and St Wenccslas, 14S7 Brno, .\ foravská galerie gle against the Moslem Ottomans, but his interest in the reform ot the religious orders must have been rooted in personal faith and reverence for the saints. He gave particularly generous support to the Observant Franciscans and the Paulines. His efforts m pursuit of the canonisation of Margaret of the House of Árpád, John Capistrano and Leopold of Babenberg are notable manifestations of his reverence for the saints. St Ladislas and the "Patrona Hungáriáé" (Virgin Mary), appeared on Matthias' gold florins and silver denars. Neither was he averse to that common feature of medieval religion, the veneration of relics. This is clearly why the Sultan presented the Hungarian King with the earthly remains of St John the Almoner in 148

e

). Overall, Matthias' personal religious outlook followed the example of his predecessors, and was distinctively medieval m character. Humanists m Hungarian and Hungarian Humanists In 15th century Italy, there was a steady increasing interest in "humanist" studies. Humanist scholars devoted themselves to studying and imitating classical literature, history and moral philosophy. Humanism was already known of in the Hungarian court of King Sigismund. The first person m Matthias' circle who was inspired by the humanist approach was his tutor, János Vitéz. Vitéz learned of the new Italian culture only through books, but some of his contemporaries, including his nephew, the poet Janus Pannonius, completed their studies in Italy. Humanists were assigned governmental and diplomatic duties in Hungary, where they displayed their abilities in the writing of letters and poetry, but they also found time to debate scholarly topics and hold symposia reviving the traditions of ancient Greece, where they propagated neo-Platonic philosophy, the updating of Platonic ideals. Bonfini recorded one such occasion for posterity. Some Italian humanists, for a fee, produced scholarly works proclaiming the reputation of the King and his ancestors without even coming to Hungary. Such was Lodovico Carbone, who wrote a panegyric of Matthias. After Matthias' marriage to Beatrice of Aragon, however, several eminent Italian humanists did visit Hungary. Filippo Buonaccorsi (Callimachus Experiens) wrote poems to the King and Queen, Taddeo Ugoletto was industrious on behalf of the royal library, Galeotto Marzio compiled a set of anecdotes recording the jests and habits of King Matthias, and two historians at the same time — Pietro Ransano and Antonio Bonfini — wrote the history of Hungary in the humanist spirit. Matthias' chief counsellor on artistic affairs was Francesco Bandini of Flor-