Calvary Altar from Garamszentbenedek
1427
Wood, tempera, gilt
Buda(?)
Christ on the Mount of Olives; detail from the feast-day side of a movable wing
Inv. 54.4
90 x 67 cm
Eight panel paintings have survived from the former Calvary Altar in Garamszentbenedek. The central image showed the Crucifixion of Christ. On the inner side of the movable wings were four scenes from the Passion, while on the workday side miraculous episodes from the lives of saints were originally presented. The missing lower painting on the outer left wing may have depicted a scene from the legend of St. Peter. The removal of the workday sides from the feast-days sides was probably commissioned by János Simor and was carried out in Vienna. At that time neo-Gothic frames were made for the paintings. Éva Galambos has posited that the missing panel was destroyed when the works were sawed apart, a view supported by the serious damage suffered by the surviving paintings of the left altarpiece wing. The predella of the altar was destroyed in the fire in the Primate’s Palace in Esztergom in 1905. Ferenc Storno’s copy of the predella inscription, which provided the name of the painter and the patron, the year it was made and a lot of other information, was published by Nándor Knauz. According to recent art historical research, the altarpiece did not belong to the furnishings of the Benedictine abbey of Garamszentbenedek but rather to that of the village’s parish church of St. Giles.
Provenance:
Acquired by Prince Primate János Simor from Garamszentbenedek around 1870, and later, in 1875, housed in the newly opened Primate’s Gallery.
Restoration:
The historicizing modifications added in the last decades of the 19th century, probably in Vienna, were painted over in 1915 by Sebestyén Endrődy. Around 1930-1940, this overpainting was removed by Lajos Nikássy. In 1958-59 and 1962 Dezső Varga cradled the backs of the panels, stabilized the blistering paint layers, and filled in and retouched the paint in several places. In 1972-72, new frames were made for the paintings as a part of preparations for the new permanent exhibition.
Bibliography:
(selection):
Gerevich Tibor: Kolozsvári Tamás, az első magyar táblaképfestő. Budapest 1923. – Radocsay 1955b, 50-59, 307-310. – Radocsay Dénes: Gótikus festmények Magyarországon. Budapest 1963, Nr. 1-7.. – Boskovits-Mojzer-Mucsi 1964, 116-121. – Mojmir Frinta: The Master of the Gerona Martyrology and Bohemian Illumantion. In: The Art Bulletin 46, 1964, 301. – Gerhard Schmidt: Malerei bis 1450. Tafelmalerei –Wandmalerei–Buchmalerei. In: Swoboda, K.M. (Hg.): Gotik in Böhmen. München 1969, 318. – Jan Bialostocki (Hg.): Spätmittelalter und beginnende Neuzeit. Propylaen Kunstgeschichte, VII. Berlin 1972, 203-204. – Lukács Zsuzsanna: Kolozsvári Tamás Passió-sorozatának burgundiai kapcsolatai. In: Építés- és Építészettudomány 5, 1973 3/4, 331-339. – Török Gyöngyi: Táblakép festészetünk korai szakasza és európai kapcsolatai. Ars Hungarica 6 (1978), 7-27. – Mucsi András: Kolozsvári Tamás Kálvária-oltára, 1978. – Magyarországi művészet 1300-1470 körül (edit.: Marosi Ernő). 1987, I. 619-623 (Végh J.). – Művészet Zsigmond király korában 1387 - 1437. Exh. cat.,. Budapest 1987, II. 315-318 (Török Gy.). – Gyöngyi Török: Problems of Central European Art, c. 1400. The Thomas de Coloswar Altarpiece in Hungary. In: Lavin, I. (ed.): World Art, Themes of Unity in Diversity. Acts of the XXVIth International Congress of the History of Art, I., 1986. Washington 1989, I., 133-136. – Gyöngyi Török: Zur Frage der Internationalität in der gotischen Buch- und Tafelmalerei. In: Pochat, G. - Wagner, B. (Hg.): Internationale Gotik in Mitteleuropa. Internationale Tagung in Graz 1989. Kunsthistorsches Jahrbuch Graz 24 (1990), 50-61. –Cséfalvay-1993, 172 - 174 (Török Gy.). – Mojmir Frinta: Some Thought-provoking Musing: Angevino –Luxemburgian –Corvinian. In: Ars 29 (1996):1 /3, 83-85. – Tóth Sándor: Képesség és Képtelenség. Tudományos kíntorna a XX: század végén. In: BUKSZ 1998/1, 74. – Papp Júlia: Kolozsvári Tamás garamszentbenedeki oltára feliratának 19. század eleji említéséről. In: Ars Hungarica 27 (1999), 419-422. – Takács Imre: Garamszentbenedek temploma és liturgikus felszerelése. In: Pannonhalma-2001, 175-180. – Milena Bartlová: Poctivé obrazy. Deskové malířství v Čechách a na Moravě 1400-1460. Praha 2001, 152 - 153. – Pozsony-2003, 698-699 (M. Bartlová). – Barbara Drake-Boehm - Jiri Fajt (eds.): Prague. The Crown of Bohemia. 1347-1437. Kat. Metropolitan Museum. New York 2005, 308-310, 146. kat. sz (W. Franzen). – Galambos Éva: The Calvary Altarpiece by Thomas de Coloswar: Some Technical Observations. In: Sigismund von Luxembourg. Ein Kaiser in Europa. Tagungsband des internationalen historischen und kunsthistorischen Kongresses in Luxembourg, 8-10. Juni 2005. Luxembourg 2005. – Budapest-Luxembourg-2006, 518-527, 580-586, 7.19 (Poszler Gy.). – Ivan Gerat: Legendary Scenes. An Essay on Medieval Pictorial Hagiography. Bratislava, 2013, 227-228. – Zsombor Jékely: “Painting at the Court of Emperor Sigismund: The Nuremberg Conncetions of the Painter Thomas de Coloswar”. In: Acta Historiae Artium 58 (2017), 57-83.
Eight panel paintings have survived from the former Calvary Altar in Garamszentbenedek. The central image showed the Crucifixion of Christ. On the inner side of the movable wings were four scenes from the Passion, while on the workday side miraculous episodes from the lives of saints were originally presented. The missing lower painting on the outer left wing may have depicted a scene from the legend of St. Peter. The removal of the workday sides from the feast-days sides was probably commissioned by János Simor and was carried out in Vienna. At that time neo-Gothic frames were made for the paintings. Éva Galambos has posited that the missing panel was destroyed when the works were sawed apart, a view supported by the serious damage suffered by the surviving paintings of the left altarpiece wing. The predella of the altar was destroyed in the fire in the Primate’s Palace in Esztergom in 1905. Ferenc Storno’s copy of the predella inscription, which provided the name of the painter and the patron, the year it was made and a lot of other information, was published by Nándor Knauz. According to recent art historical research, the altarpiece did not belong to the furnishings of the Benedictine abbey of Garamszentbenedek but rather to that of the village’s parish church of St. Giles.
Provenance:
Acquired by Prince Primate János Simor from Garamszentbenedek around 1870, and later, in 1875, housed in the newly opened Primate’s Gallery.
Restoration:
The historicizing modifications added in the last decades of the 19th century, probably in Vienna, were painted over in 1915 by Sebestyén Endrődy. Around 1930-1940, this overpainting was removed by Lajos Nikássy. In 1958-59 and 1962 Dezső Varga cradled the backs of the panels, stabilized the blistering paint layers, and filled in and retouched the paint in several places. In 1972-72, new frames were made for the paintings as a part of preparations for the new permanent exhibition.
Bibliography:
(selection):
Gerevich Tibor: Kolozsvári Tamás, az első magyar táblaképfestő. Budapest 1923. – Radocsay 1955b, 50-59, 307-310. – Radocsay Dénes: Gótikus festmények Magyarországon. Budapest 1963, Nr. 1-7.. – Boskovits-Mojzer-Mucsi 1964, 116-121. – Mojmir Frinta: The Master of the Gerona Martyrology and Bohemian Illumantion. In: The Art Bulletin 46, 1964, 301. – Gerhard Schmidt: Malerei bis 1450. Tafelmalerei –Wandmalerei–Buchmalerei. In: Swoboda, K.M. (Hg.): Gotik in Böhmen. München 1969, 318. – Jan Bialostocki (Hg.): Spätmittelalter und beginnende Neuzeit. Propylaen Kunstgeschichte, VII. Berlin 1972, 203-204. – Lukács Zsuzsanna: Kolozsvári Tamás Passió-sorozatának burgundiai kapcsolatai. In: Építés- és Építészettudomány 5, 1973 3/4, 331-339. – Török Gyöngyi: Táblakép festészetünk korai szakasza és európai kapcsolatai. Ars Hungarica 6 (1978), 7-27. – Mucsi András: Kolozsvári Tamás Kálvária-oltára, 1978. – Magyarországi művészet 1300-1470 körül (edit.: Marosi Ernő). 1987, I. 619-623 (Végh J.). – Művészet Zsigmond király korában 1387 - 1437. Exh. cat.,. Budapest 1987, II. 315-318 (Török Gy.). – Gyöngyi Török: Problems of Central European Art, c. 1400. The Thomas de Coloswar Altarpiece in Hungary. In: Lavin, I. (ed.): World Art, Themes of Unity in Diversity. Acts of the XXVIth International Congress of the History of Art, I., 1986. Washington 1989, I., 133-136. – Gyöngyi Török: Zur Frage der Internationalität in der gotischen Buch- und Tafelmalerei. In: Pochat, G. - Wagner, B. (Hg.): Internationale Gotik in Mitteleuropa. Internationale Tagung in Graz 1989. Kunsthistorsches Jahrbuch Graz 24 (1990), 50-61. –Cséfalvay-1993, 172 - 174 (Török Gy.). – Mojmir Frinta: Some Thought-provoking Musing: Angevino –Luxemburgian –Corvinian. In: Ars 29 (1996):1 /3, 83-85. – Tóth Sándor: Képesség és Képtelenség. Tudományos kíntorna a XX: század végén. In: BUKSZ 1998/1, 74. – Papp Júlia: Kolozsvári Tamás garamszentbenedeki oltára feliratának 19. század eleji említéséről. In: Ars Hungarica 27 (1999), 419-422. – Takács Imre: Garamszentbenedek temploma és liturgikus felszerelése. In: Pannonhalma-2001, 175-180. – Milena Bartlová: Poctivé obrazy. Deskové malířství v Čechách a na Moravě 1400-1460. Praha 2001, 152 - 153. – Pozsony-2003, 698-699 (M. Bartlová). – Barbara Drake-Boehm - Jiri Fajt (eds.): Prague. The Crown of Bohemia. 1347-1437. Kat. Metropolitan Museum. New York 2005, 308-310, 146. kat. sz (W. Franzen). – Galambos Éva: The Calvary Altarpiece by Thomas de Coloswar: Some Technical Observations. In: Sigismund von Luxembourg. Ein Kaiser in Europa. Tagungsband des internationalen historischen und kunsthistorischen Kongresses in Luxembourg, 8-10. Juni 2005. Luxembourg 2005. – Budapest-Luxembourg-2006, 518-527, 580-586, 7.19 (Poszler Gy.). – Ivan Gerat: Legendary Scenes. An Essay on Medieval Pictorial Hagiography. Bratislava, 2013, 227-228. – Zsombor Jékely: “Painting at the Court of Emperor Sigismund: The Nuremberg Conncetions of the Painter Thomas de Coloswar”. In: Acta Historiae Artium 58 (2017), 57-83.
