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

ÁRPÁD MIKÓ: The Legacy of King Matthias. Late Renaissance Art in Hungary (16th-17th Century)

Sopron pieces. They had a slightly stricter, but not hostile, approach to pictures. Péter Perényi, the greatest profiteer of the dual kingdom, when in the captivity of Ferdinand I m Vienna, selected the parallel places of the Bible into couplets, and commissioned Augustin Hirschvogel to illustrate them (1545—1547). New altarpieces were also painted, sometimes illustrating complex theological themes (Árva [OravaJ Castle, chapel), and on fashionable epitaphs exploited visual allegories, as m the famous Zmeskál Epitaph (Berzevice, Brezovica nad Torysou), 1600. The winged altars in medieval churches were retained, for instance in the St James' Church in Lőcse (Levoca), the St Egidius' Church in Bártfa (Bardejov), and the St John the Baptist's Church in Kisszeben (Sabinov). It was the Reformed (Calvinist) Church which took the strictest attitude to pictures. None of the figurative art of the late Middle Ages was permitted. Only the liturgical vessels remained m use, but the Calvinists developed their own goldsmith tradition. Goldsmith work in Kecskemét, in the occupied part of the kingdom, flourished in the 17th century and supplied liturgical items to the surroundings. Debrecen goldsmith work was similarly famous. The Debrecen flasks with columnar decoration were unique to the city, and their principal decorative motif is only found on items in the vicinity. Grants by the Protestant Princes of Transylvania Gábor Bethlen and particularly György I Rákóczy and Zsuzsanna Lorántffy supported churches in both Transylvania and the region beyond the river Tisza. The Anabaptist Habans had a unique book culture. Their bookbinding style forms a category of its own, and they sometimes illustrated their codices with miniatures consisting mostly of plant motifs, similar to those on their vessels. Funeral Monuments Funeral monuments were the principal focus of sculpture during this time. The originals of these are difficult to show at an exhibition, although the finest example, the central figure from the monument to Hans Rueber von Piichsendorf, Captain-General of Upper Hungary, a lifesize marble statue of the deceased, now belongs to the Hungarian National Gallery. This is the first m a series of modern and late Renaissance wall gravestones from the second half of the 16th century, the most outstanding example of which was made for Miklós Pálfly m 1601, m St Martin's Church of Pozsony. It was commissioned by his wife, Maria Fugger, and the sculptor was Paul Mayr of Augsburg or his pupil, Caspar Menneler. It was demolished in the 19th century; all that survives is an archive photograph of its model (which has been lost); and 19th and 20th century pictures are all that remain of Mam ligure of the tomb monument of Captain-General Hans Rueber von Piichsendorf (f 1584) from Kassa (Kosice) Budapest, Magyar Nemzeti Galéria the other types of funeral monument. The finest stone epitaph of the mid-16th century is presented in a plaster copy. It is from Lőcse (Levoca), the monument to Elek (Alexius) Thurzó (1543), and was also an import, made in the Eichstätt studio of Loy Hering, to conform to the status of a family with extensive Central European connections. The earliest funeral monument of a Transylvania ruler, the tomb of Queen Isabella, is represented by a historical plaster copy. The tomb was probably made after 1 57 1, together with that of her son John Sigismund, perhaps commissioned by István Báthory. The monuments to the great Transylvanian princes Gábor Bethlen and György I Rákóczi still stand m Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia) Cathedral, but now completely rebuilt as altars.