Csornay Boldizsár - Hubai Péter szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 96. (Budapest, 2002)

KOVÁCS, ZOLTÁN: A New Representation of the Salvator Mundi from the workshop of Quentin Massys

surrounded by a halo, which can not be seen in the heavily overpainted background area of the former, although this painting probably did originally contain one. The black and white photograph in the Milan sales catalogue allows us to make observations about the carved and gilded frame, too, which provides a further aspect for comparison. The frames of the two paintings are very similar in respect to their shapes and motifs: they employ the same foliage and fig ornamentation. Nevertheless, it is absolutely clear that these are two different frames. Despite the similarities, the palmettalike foliage motifs in the corners (fig. 38)

8 and the ornaments resembling intersecting leaf-stalks in the centre of the shorter sections clearly differentiate the Budapest frame from that reproduced in the 1913 sale catalogue, the carving of which is more meticulously detailed and employs a larger variety of fruit motifs. Furthermore, the leaf ornament carved on the inside sections of the ex-Foresti painting's frame is different from the simpler design of tiny hemispherical motifs applied in the analogous part of our picture's frame. It is unclear whether the measurements given in the sales catalogue refer to the panel alone or include the frame; in any case, they are probably incorrect.

9 To sum up our observations, the slight differences between the painted surfaces of the two panels recognisable on the basis of photographs may be attributed to later restorations. The equivalent proportions of the two compositions allow for a serious claim that the works are identical. The outstanding artistic quality and the lack of any detailed underdrawing promote the suggestion that our picture is an independent design instead of a copy. Presumably made between the two World Wars, the present frame of the painting seems to be a simplified version of the one reproduced in the 1913 sales catalogue and it is likely that its design was based on that of the former frame. Unfortunately, because the Lino Pesaro auction house has long been out of business, no information concerning the subsequent whereabouts of the painting offered at the 1913 sale is available. However, notwithstanding the lack of conclusive evidence, it is highly likely that the two pictures are the same. 8 Miklós Szentkirályi has suggested that the carved and gilded frame of the Budapest panel might have been made in the period between the two World Wars, presumably in the Géberth workshop in Budapest. 9 Judging from the photograph accompanying the catalogue entry, the ratio of the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the ex-Foresti painting appears to be 1.308 (123 : 94 mm). This does not concur with the ratio based on the measurements listed in the entry (126 : 88 cm - 1.43), but is virtually identical to the proportions of the Budapest picture (102 : 78 cm - 1.307). The suggestions that the measurements are incorrect is reinforced by the fact that, although the inner proportions of the two compositions may match, the vertical length listed for the Milanese picture is longer than that of the Budapest work, while the horizontal dimension is shorter, which is in itself contradictory.