Page 82 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Budapest

80  BUD APEST AREA B Y AREA

Exploring the Hungarian The Visitation, a magnif icent
National Gallery late Gothic work by Master
MS, is, in fact, only the main
section of an altar; the other
The works are displayed in six permanent exhibitions and give pieces are now in the city of
a thorough insight into Hungarian art from the early Middle Esztergom (see p168).
Ages to the present day. Although one-and-a-half centuries
of Turkish occupation and wartime destruction interrupted the Renaissance and
development of Hungarian art, the birth of national pride in Baroque Works
the 19th century allowed a new indigenous style to develop. The exhibition begins with
Among the most interesting exhibits are the Hungarian a still life by Jakab Bogdány
paintings of the late 19th century, when a greater diversity of (1660–1724) and portraits by
styles came to the fore. The collection of 20th-century works Ádám Mányoki (1673–1757)
includes paintings, prints, drawings and sculptures. (see p28), who actually settled
outside Hungary. As a result
of the powerful influence
of the Habsburgs during this
pe riod (see pp30–31), Baroque
art was overwhelmingly
domin ated by Austrian artists.
Painters such as Joseph
Dorfmeister and Franz Anton
Maulbertsch and sculptors
Georg Raphael Donner
and Philipp Jakob Straub
were the acknow ledged
masters of the style. Jan
Kupetzky’s portraits are also
The Habsburg Crypt, with the sarcophagus of Palatine Archduke Joseph exemplary models of this era.
The wooden sculptures
by Donner and the sacred
The Lapidarium Gothic Works paintings of Dorfmeister
On the ground floor, to the left of A superb collection of painted conclude this section of
the main en trance, is a display panels, sculptures and fragments the gallery.
of stone objects dis cov ered of altar decoration is opposite
during the reconstruc tion of the the Lapida rium. Note, however,
Royal Palace (see p74). Situated the image of the Madonna of Late-Gothic Altarpieces
on the ground floor, under the Bártfa, which is a rare complete One of the star exhibits
south ern yard of the main build­ example from the Gothic period. of this collection is the
ing is the Lapidarium, which The sculptures of the “Beautiful imposing late Gothic altarpiece.
includes sculp tures and frag­ Mado nnas” are executed in the Arranged in the Great Throne
ments of architectural features, Soft Style. This style is character­ Room, the majority of these
such as balu strades and ized, as its name suggests, by the vast altarpieces date from
windows, that decorated the sentimental and gentle imagery the 15th and early 16th
royal chambers during the of the Madonna playing with centuries. Architecturally these
Angevin and Jagiełło eras the Christ child. altarpieces are pure Gothic,
(see p20). It also dis plays
Renaissance relics. The most
valuable exhibit, however, is a
sculpture of King Béla III’s head,
which dates from around 1200.
Also in this first section are
two marble bas­reliefs of King
Matthias and his wife Beatrice,
by an unknown Renaissance
master from Lombardy.
The second section exhibits
late Gothic and Renaissance
artifacts from other palaces in
Hungary. There are pillars and
balustrades from the palace at
Visegrád and bas­reliefs from
a chapel in Esztergom. The Great Throne Room, displaying the collection of folding altarpieces

080-081_EW_Budapest.indd 80 15/09/16 10:32 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Flashmap follow-on template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.5)
Date 7th January 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm