Boskovits Miklós - Mojzer Miklós - Mucsi András: Christian art in Hungary. Collections from the Esztergom Christian Museum - Az Esztergomi keresztény múzeum képtára (Budapest, 1965)

The third largest art collection in Hungary is housed in the Christian Museum at Esztergom. Although opened to the public in 1875, it was only in 1954 that it became a real museum equipped with a workshop tor re-touching paintings and facilities for study and reference. The art collection is, on the whole, the achievement of the Archbishop János Simor whose predilection was the acquiring of objets d’art from which he could seek both artistic enrichment and religious inspiration. By grad­ual means he coUected the works of the 19th century and many of the old masters now in the gallery; but it was in 1878, when he acquired 63 paintings from the legacy of Canon Bertinelli in Rome, that the hard core of his collection from the 14th and 16th centuries was formed. Since his death, the gallery has been aug­mented on a number of occasions. The incorporation of the collected material of Arnold Ipolyi in the 1920’s and the acquisition of the coUections of the San Marco and Neapolitan Capese-Zurlo families were of special importance. Ipolyi, the greatest Hungarian connois­seur of mediaeval art, was mainly interested in works of Hungarian origin or relating to Hungary. Also he was an authority on the quattrocento and Cinquecento stages in Renaissance art, being the first to distinguish them from each other. The 81 colour plates and 152 half­tones presented in this volume constitute only a small selection of the pieces in the museum. With a view to the scope of the book, many old works and all of the 19th century pictures have been omitted. Of particular interest are the old Hungarian masters, such as the Master of Jánosrét, the Master of Bát and the Master M S who stood prob­ably at the summit of Hungar­ian mediaeval painting. Italian mediaeval art is amply repre­sented, especially that of the Sienese and Florentine schools. Both Simor and Ipolyi were eager to collect old German and Austrian panels—these, to some extent, reflect their icono­­graphical tastes. Among the mediaeval Madonnas and Cruci­fixions those of the Hungarian masters deserve special mention. The Flemish and Dutch paintings make a significant contribution to the importance of the Museum.

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