Tátrai Vilmos szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 90-91.(Budapest, 1999)

VARGA, LÍVIA: The Reconsideration of the Portrait Reliefs of King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490), and Queen Beatrix of Aragon (1476-1508)

West to persuade Matthias to continue the fight against the Turks, and the Italian humanists, both in Italy and Buda, worked to promote this objective. Needless to say, this western interest also served that of the king. The ideal of personal excellence and the performance of good deeds to the benefit of one's country confonned to antique norms. The humanists emphasized that these qualities bore even more weight than being a legitimate ruler, a fact which helped Matthias, whose kingship was illegitimate, to be recognized and accepted as an equal to other European rulers.

31 A similar goal was also served by portrait sculpture. It helped to establish certain images of Matthias, notably that of an antique hero comparable only to Alexander the Great. It is not surprising, as a consequence, that several representations of the king were inspired by images of Alexander. Matthias as an antique warrior and hero offered many possibilities of all'antica representations. Plutarch described some portraits of Alexander made by his court sculptor, Lysippos, who best expressed the regal bearing and the warrior's manliness. He compared Alexander to a lion. The Greeks recognized in the lion the embodiment of courage and majesty. Among the many features reflecting the manliness of a lion, Aristotle, the tutor of Alexander, mentioned the texture and color of his mane-like hair.

32 This thick and wavy hair has been recognized on a number of bare-headed representations which were identified as Alexander.

33 Some portraits 31 Feuer-Tóth, R., Writings of the Art by Italian Humanists at King Matthias's court, between 1474-76 and 1490, Acta Históriáé Artium 32 ( 1986) pp. 27-58; Idem, Art and Humanism in Hungary in the Age of Matthias Corvinus, ed. Farbaky, P., Budapest 1990; Marosi, E., Mátyás király és kora a művészettörténeti irodalomban (King Matthias and His Age in the Art Historical Literature), Korunk 1990, pp. 434—445; Idem, Die Corvinische Renaissance, in Ostmitteleuropa vor der Reformation, eds. Strnad, E. - Strnad, A. A., Köln - Weimar - Wien 1996. pp. 173-189. 32 Schwarzenberg, E., The Portraiture of Alexander, m Alexandre le Grand: Image et realité

. Vandoevres - Genève 1975, pp. 223-268; Baltrusaitis, J., Aberrations, Paris 1957, pp. 8-12. 33 Richter, G. M. A., The Portraits of the Greeks 3, London 1965, pp. 255-256. 29. Bronze medal of King Matthias. Budapest, 30. (Jold medal of King Matthias. Vienna, National Museum Kunsthistorisehes Museum