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

Antwerp picture is in perfect accord with a version of the Eyckian prototype now in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, dating from the second half of the 15th century, which is considered to be of the highest quality among surviving copies.

44 The globe itself is not visible in the Antwerp panel, only three of the fingers of the left hand resting upon it and the meticulously painted and elaborately decorated, jewelled cross. This splendid cross emerges as a prominent feature in the picture, which is Massys' own innovation. Besides ornamental decoration, the cross is embellished with the symbols of the four evangelists at the ends of the arms and a second image of the Salvator Mundi at their intersection. This magnificent goldsmith's work figures prominently in later representations of the Salvator Mundi by Massys, as well. Still earlier than the Antwerp one, he also painted a half length picture of Christ the Saviour alone, now in the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh (fig. 44) 45 The facial type of Christ in the latter painting is very close to that in the former one, and the globe, in which the cityscape of Jerusalem is reflected, is also surmounted by a filigree-decorated goldsmith's cross. The jewelled brooch adorning Christ's robe incorporates the image of Moses sitting below a canopy, holding the tablets of the law. The rendering of the fingers of the right hand is almost entirely the same as in the Budapest panel. A studio version of the Raleigh picture, preserved in the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen, shows a surmounting cross of a somewhat larger size and more elaborate decoration including medallions incorporating the usual symbols of the four evangelists. At the intersection of the arms, a bishop's figure can be seen, holding a chalice in his hand and a longstemmed cross on his shoulder. This time, the cloak brooch is decorated with the narrative of the creation of Eve (fig. 45).

46 The characteristic taut-muscled appearance of Christ's neck is an important detail that recurs in the Budapest picture. Another variant made by Massys' workshop is the diptych now in the National Gallery, London, which may, according to De Bosque, date from around 1505. Compared to the above-mentioned examples, its Christ is somewhat less magnificent in His appearance. His cloak brooch is a small one decorated by only a few gems; the cross of the orb is of simpler design. The long face and nose, as well as the treatment of the neck, shown taut-muscled, resemble the Salvator in the Budapest panel.

47 44 L. Silver, The Paintings of Quentin Massys with Catalogue Raisonné, Oxford 1984, 73. 45 Inv. GL. 60. 17. 62, oil on panel, 53.3 by 36.8 cm. North Carolina Museum of Art. Handbook of the Collection, ed. Rebecca Martin Nagy, Raleigh 1998, 75. Cf. Ferber, op. cit. (cfr. n. 32), 36-41, and Silver, op. cit. (cfr. n. 44), 195-6, cat. 4, pi. 43. 46 Bosque, op. cit. (cfr. n. 43), 127, fig. 113.1 am grateful to Sylvia Böhmer of the curatorial staff in the Suermondt-Ludwig Museum, Aachen for the information concerning this painting and the photograph of it. 47 Ibid., 126-7, fig. 112. Cf. Silver, op. cit. (cfr. n.44), 196. It should be noted that several studio variants and copies of Massys' Salvator Mundi compositions discussed here are known. Let me list only some of relatively higher quality among those collected in the RKD Archives in The Hague: 1. oil on panel, 52 by 37 cm, Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, unpublished; 2. panel, sale, 6 October 1947, Baron de Brouwer, Brussels, lot 48 (as by Gerard David); 3. oil on panel, 45 by 35 cm, sale, Wameck, Paris, 27 May 1926, lot 13; 4. oil on panel, 54.3 by 36.8 cm, Wolfram Graf Adelmann coll., exh. Stuttgart 1958, no. 136). The half-length Saviour of our Museum (inv. 1220), which is attributed to the studio, seems to be close to the prototype of the Raleigh painting. (Cf. Ember - Urbach, op. cit. (cfr. n. 1), 101.) KS