Csornay Boldizsár - Dobos Zsuzsa - Varga Ágota - Zakariás János szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei 99. (Budapest, 2003)

THE YEAR 2003 - NEW ACQUISITIONS - CIFKA, BRIGITTA: Sir Joseph Noel Patorís Madonna with the Sleeping Christ Child and the Infant Saint John the Baptist

SIR JOSEPH NOEL PATON'S MADONNA WITH THE SLEEPING CHRIST CHILD AND THE INFANT SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST* Painter, illustrator, sculptor, art collector and poet, Joseph Noel Paton (Dunfermline 1821-1901 Edinburgh) played a prominent part in the Edinburgh art life as an active member of the Royal Scottish Academy.

1 His father, Joseph Neil Paton, a pattern designer for the Dunfermline damask factories, was held in great esteem within professional circles in whole Scotland's textile industry, and his designs were appreciated by Queen Victoria, as well. His mother, who belonged to the Atholl (Atheling) clan, claimed to be an offspring of the Scottish royal couple, Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret. Canonized in 1251, Queen Margaret was born around 1045 in Hungary, the daughter of the exiled English Prince Edward "the Outlaw", who lived in the Hungarian royal court and married Agatha, a kinswoman of King Stephen.

2 * Oil on canvas, 76 by 61 cm. Signed lower right: J. N. P. JUN 1844. Inv. no. 2003.2.B. Purchased from a Budapest private collection with a financial support provided by the National Cultural Fund. 1 The most important literature on Paton's life and art is as follows: Thieme, U. - Becker, F., Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart 16, Leipzig 1932, 297; Noel-Paton, M.H. - Campbell, J.P., Noel Paton 1821-1901 (ed. Irwin, F.), Edinburgh 1990; Lamperriere, C.B., The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibitors 1826-1990, 3, Edinburgh 1991, 433-436; The Patons - An Artistic Family, exh. cat., St Andrews (Crawford Arts Center, 29 Jan - 21 Feb 1993), 3-8; McEvan, P.J.M., Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture, Edinburgh 1994, 454-455; The Dictionary of Art 24 (ed. Turner, J.), New York 1996, 266; Irwin, D.-E, Scottish Painters at Home and Abroad 1700-1900, London 1997, 288-295. I am grateful to Helen Smailes, Chief Curator at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, and Godfrey Evans, Curator at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, without whose information the present article could not have been written. 2 Upon an invitation by King Edward "the Confessor", the family returned to England in 1057, where Prince Edward however died still in that year. After the battle of Hastings, Margaret's brother, Edgar Atheling was elected King but he soon yielded the throne to William the Conqueror and sought refuge, with her mother and sisters, in Scotland, where Princess Margaret was married to Malcolm III, king of Scotland, overthrower of Macbeth. Margaret led a saintly life, pacifying his barbarous husband and reforming the ecclesiastical life of Scotland. She was buried in 1093 in the church of the Benedictine abbey of Dunfermline, which was founded by herself. Her mortal remains are said to have been secured by translating them to Spain during the Reformation period. She is venerated as a patron saint of Scotland. See Rhoderik and Moncreiff, A., Ebenezer Hendersons The Annals of Dunfermline, from the Earliest Authentic Period to the Present Time 1878, Dunfermline 1999; Fest, S., Eadmund Ironside angol-szász király fiai Szent István udvarában: Skóciai Szent