1. Hungarian Late Gothic Painting and Sculpture (15-16th c.)

The picture is a wing of a Calvary-altarpiece originating from the Benedictine Abbey of Garamszentbenedek (present-day Hronský Beňadik, Slovakia). The statues in the central case of the altarpiece were greatly damaged in the fire that ravaged the museum in 1905, but the inscription that includes also the date of the work remained legible on the lower frame: “o crux adoranda o crux veneranda ano dni 1495”. The movable wings depict the Passion of the Redeemer. The scenes on the inner sides, including the Resurrection, are by a painter of considerable talents. The work, with its spatiality of representation, softly drawn figures, a colour scheme rich in shades, and a landscape overgrown with lush vegetation, seems to be a forerunner for the art of Master MS. In the background of the Deposition, also exhibited at the permanent exhibition, the building of the Abbey is visible.