History of the Sculpture Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Budapest

THE HISTORY OF THE PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS OF THE COLLECTION OF SCULPTURE BEFORE 1800

The photo album of the permanent exhibitions staged since the late 1890s by the Museum of Fine Arts Collection of Sculpture before 1800 was compiled by Jolán Balogh (1900-1988), the former head of the Collection.

The text of the album and some of its most characteristic photos are used here to provide insights into the collection and the history of its permanent exhibitions.

The formation of the collection was begun around 1894-1895 when Károly Pulszky (18531899) purchased 121 mostly Renaissance masterpieces in Italy. Ninety-five of these works were exhibited at the Museum of Applied Arts between 1896 and 1907. In the following decades, after Pulszky’s acquisitions, the collection was enriched with plaster casts that were on display in the display rooms (in place of the original sculptures).

In 1914, the Museum purchased István Ferenczy’s (1792-1856) Renaissance and Baroque bronzes from his heirs. The Hungarian sculptor Ferenczy had acquired these bronzes in Italy. The outbreak of the First World War meant that they could not be presented in a public exhibition until 1917. The curator and head of the Sculpture Collection at that time was Simon Meller (1875-1949), who exhibited 46 small bronzes in the halls of the Conservation Department on the first floor of the museum. This was the first sculpture exhibition to be held in the museum’s new building.

The permanent exhibition between 1921 and 1935 was linked to Simon Meller; it represented the entire sculpture collection held by the Museum of Fine Arts. An exhibition catalogue was created as a means to offer guidance to visitors. The 205 displayed artefacts were placed in the southwest wing of the ground floor and occupied three rooms and a corridor. The exhibition displayed masterpieces from the museum’s sculpture collection, as well as further artworks on loan from contemporary private collections.

At that time, many collectors (among others, Adolf Kohner, Lipót Mór Herzog, Marcel von Nemes, Ernő Wittmanm and Emil Delmár) maintained good relationships with the museum scholars. Consequently, the museums benefited from several donations and deposits to their public and sculpture collections.

The exhibited masterpieces reflected the strengths of the collection: they were arranged aesthetically and according to schools of art. In the exhibition rooms and corridors of the museum the Italian Renaissance sculptures and reliefs as well as Neth-

1

2/a

2/b

erlandish, German, Austrian, French, and Hungarian masterpieces were on display.

Meanwhile, in the stairway and on the landing, Venetian carvings could be viewed.

In the photo (1), the first hall can be seen, where the Renaissance sculptures were placed: Agostino di Duccio’s (1418–1481?) Archangel Gabriel (inv. no. 1280), Jacopo Sansovino’s (1486–1570) Crucifix (inv. no. 1115), and Virgin and Child (cartapesta, inv. no. 4971). In the centre of the hall, the small bronzes from the Ferenczy Collection occupied two glass vitrines, while in the third vitrine, the Rearing Horse and Mounted Warrior, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, was placed (inv. no. 5362).

The small details of the Meller exhibition reflect the intimate, interior-like arrangement of the sculptures, which was a widespread custom at that time. The first photo shows some of the Renaissance masterpieces displayed in the first hall. We see masterpieces such as a glazed terracotta tondo, made in the Robbia workshop (inv. no.

1172), a Sitting Madonna (inv. no. 1227) originally attributed to Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529/30) but currently to Baccio da Montelupo (1469–1535), and a Bust of a Child made by Gregorio di Lorenzo (active 1455–1495).

The lower photo (2) shows part of the second hall of the exhibition with Italian art and including several masterpieces such as Jörg Lederer’s (1470 – circa 1550) Winged Altarpiece (inv. no. 76.9) from 1515, a Calvary Group (inv. nos. 5167, 5168, 5169) from around 1430 by a South-Tyrolean Master, or Tilman Heysacker’s (active 1487 – 1515) Gothic wooden sculpture depicting The Virgin (inv. no. 4965). Simon Meller and Elek Petrovics (1873-1945), the director of the museum at that time, had purchased the latter one and its pair in 1916 at the Drey art fair in Munich.

The second permanent exhibition of the sculpture collection was opened in 1936; it was based on a concept by Jolán Balogh, who had been working for the museum since 1924. Balogh was initially a curator, but she later headed the collection until 1967. Under her leadership, the collection became much larger. Thanks to her, the artworks were saved during the Second World War and conservation work was also undertaken. Balogh also wrote articles and gave lectures, acquainting scholars and the public with the collection.

3

Between 1936 and 1942, the permanent exhibition of the sculpture collection moved to the halls on the second floor of the right wing where the sculptures occupied altogether seven cabinets and the two landings of the staircase. There were plaquettes and small bronzes in glass vitrines, as well as larger stone statues installed on the walls. Similar to the Meller exhibition, 178 pieces of both museum collection items and deposits from private collectors were put on display together.

Walls were placed at intervals in the longitudinal halls; this created a larger wall surface and facilitated the creation of “intimate spaces� where smaller sculptures could be displayed. The principle of the arrangement was to exhibit the sculptures in chronological order and according to schools, whereby the artworks could be shown in a stylistic order. The arrangement of sculptures was a unique feature at that time, as they were at some distance from each other.

4

Tuscan and Northern Italian sculptures from the 15th century can be seen in the photo (3): the aforementioned glazed terracotta tondo made in the Robbia workshop (inv. no. 1172), the Sitting Madonna (inv. no. 1227) currently attributed to Baccio da Montelupo, and Neroccio di Bartolomeo de’ Landi’s (1447–1500) life-sized Archangel Gabriel (inv. no. 1190).

Art pieces from Paduan and Venetian sculptors can be seen in the third cabinet (4).

Several small bronzes of the Ferenczy Collection were displayed in glass vitrines, such as the Satyr and Satyress (inv. no. 5354), the Kneeling Satyr (inv. no. 5316) and the Rape of Europa (inv. no. 5363), in addition to other plaquettes and coins. On the left side of the photograph, there is the terracotta Portrait of a Doge (inv. no. 1233), originally attributed to the workshop of Pietro Lombardi (1435-1515) but currently dated as a 19th-century work of art.

5

In the 4th cabinet (5) mostly 16-18th-century sculptures of Florentine and Venetian origin were on display. The materials of sculptures varied: bronze, wood and stone.

On the left edge of the photo there is a Crucifix (inv. no. 1115) created by Jacopo Sansovino. In the centre of the room, the Rearing Horse and Mounted Warrior was placed in a separate vitrine, an artwork attributed to Leonardo da Vinci or his follower (the statuette cannot be seen in this photo). The middle of the photo provides insights into the following room, the so-called 5th cabinet and into its masterpiece, the Lederer Altarpiece (inv. no. 76.9).

German, French, Netherlandish, and English sculptures from the 14th-16th centuries were presented in the 5th cabinet (6). The displayed artworks also reveal the predominance of Italian masterpieces in the collection in every period, while the northern schools are represented by only a few, but nonetheless outstanding, sculptures.

6

Jörg Lederer’s gothic Winged Altarpiece (inv. no. 76.9) was placed in the centre of the cabinet. The statuettes of the Virgin Mary and Jesus were placed inside the shrine, and the figures of saints and scenes from their legends can be observed on both sides.

The statue of Saint Sebastian (inv. no. 1385), made by the Sculptor of the Lower Rhine during the latter part of the 15th century, is on the right side of the altar. The sculpture of Saint Barbara (inv. no. 5427), created at the end of the 15th century and purchased from the private art collection of Lukács Enyedy (1845-1906), is located next to the aforementioned statue.

The entire exhibition and the rest of the collection were placed in the museum’s cellar in 1942, in order to keep them safe from the destruction of the war. Although the exhibition halls were ruined during the bombings of 1944-1945, the losses of the collection were minor; only a few pieces were lost or damaged.

7

8

The new permanent exhibition was open to the public after building and artwork restorations were made in 1950. After the war, the sculpture collection’s first permanent exhibition was staged between 1950 and 1956; altogether 150 selected masterpieces were displayed in eleven rooms on the second floor of the museum. In addition to the sculptures in the collection, several other pieces were exhibited: artworks which had been donated or deposited for conservation by such private art collectors as Emil Delmár and Rudolf Bedő before the war. After 1945, about one hundred sculptures were purchased or entered into the collection through exchanges with other museums.

These sculptures included masterpieces by Bernhard Fischer von Erlach (1656–1723), Georg Raphael Donner (1693–1741), and Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736–1783). The curator of the exhibition was Jolán Balogh, the former head of the Collection. The displayed sculptures from the 3rd to 18th centuries were arranged in chronological order

and according to schools. Seven cabinets were dedicated to the Italian masterpieces, and one cabinet each to the French, German, Netherlandish, and English schools.

In two cabinets, sculptures of the German School were exhibited, while miscellaneous German and Austrian masterpieces were placed in another exhibition room. According to Jolán Balogh, the less displayed sculptures had more space and a better arrangement was achieved, which resulted in a “historically and aesthetically harmonic and satisfying” exhibition.

The display of stoneworks, the so-called lapidarium (7-8), which was separated from the exhibition rooms and rearranged several times (in 1953, 1963 and 1966) by Jolán Balogh was placed in the staircase between the first and second floors where it remained until its closure in 2012.

9

Since 1953, stone fragments such as wells have been on display in the Renaissance Hall of the museum. The initial conceptions have been attributed to Jolán Balogh, Dezső Erdey, and Kálmán Németh. Originally, only five masterpieces were put on display, however in 1966 that number increased to eighteen sculptures. Currently, eight Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance wells are in the main hall, in addition to some other stoneworks, such as a Renaissance balcony, a lavabo, and several sculptures.

The photograph (9) depicts the arrangement of the Renaissance Hall in 1960. It was furnished with ten Venetian wells, of which several had been located in Hungarian countryside castles in the past. In the middle of the photo, a 15th-century Venetian well is decorated with the coat-of-arms of the Testa Family (inv. no. 1320). On the right side, we see another Venetian well with round dancers (inv. no. 60.3); it came from

10

11

12

the Erdődy Castle in VÊp. Lastly, on the left side of the picture under the arch, there is a well that once belonged to the Eszterhåzy earls from Devecser.

In the photograph (10), we see another view of the Renaissance Hall furnished with wells. The rearrangement of the permanent exhibition undertaken to mark the 50th anniversary of the Museum in 1956, began during the previous year (1955). The aim was to represent the newly purchased and deposited sculptures in eleven cabinets on the second floor. Leaving aside the lapidariums in the staircase and the Renaissance Hall, the exhibition comprised altogether 141 masterpieces of European art (and sculpture) from the 14th-18th centuries. Earlier periods were illustrated with just a few artefacts, while Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque art was presented in a time

13

14

progression but according to the schools of art. Nonetheless, Italian sculpture still dominated this exhibition. Over the years, the steadily growing collection received international recognition and in 1955 it was separated from the Graphic Collection.

Italian masterpieces from the 14th and 15th centuries were exhibited in the second cabinet. The photograph (11) shows the side opposite the entrance, thus providing insights into the following cabinets. On the right pedestal we see Andrea Pisanos’s (1290-1348) alabaster statuette of the Madonna – a piece which used to belong to the well-known collection of Miklós Jankovich (1772-1846).

The fourth cabinet (12) was populated by late 15th century masterpieces of the Tuscan School. Masterpieces such as that of Francesco di Giorgio Martini’s (1439–1502) terracotta Madonna (inv. no. 1117) sculpture on the left wall, just below Benedetto da

15

16

Maiano’s (1442-1497) Christ and the Woman of Samaria (inv. no. 1172), and on the right pedastal the terracotta sculpture of Saint John the Baptist at the Fountain (inv. no.

1173). The glazed terracotta tondo made in the Robbia workshop (inv. no. 1172) was also on display, as before in the Meller exhibition.

In the seventh cabinet, 16th-century Venetian masterpieces were selected (13), including Jacopo Sansovino’s painted papier mâché Virgin and Child (inv. no. 4971), displayed on the right wall. It was located between two firedogs originally attributed to the Venetian sculptor Tiziano Aspetti (1559-1606), but currently regarded as the work of a northern master trained in Italy.

The photo depicting the tenth cabinet (14), in the background the Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon created by the Follower of Hans Multscher (1400 – circa 1467), inv. no.

17

84.2), shows the 15th-16th century sculptures from the German School of art. Leinhart Astl’s painted limewood relief, the Lamentation Over the Dead Christ (inv. no. 52.968) from the collection of Count Gyula Andrássy (1823-1890) is placed on the right side.

Two other reliefs from the Delmár Collection, which were deposits in the museum at that time, can be seen above Astl’s relief and the doorway: Corpus (inv. no. 84.7), and Angel (inv. no. 84.4).

The permanent exhibition was rearranged completely and extended significantly in 1961, again in 1964, and finally in 1967 by Jolán Balogh. Altogether 341 sculptures were on display at the museum: 18 in the Renaissance Hall, 60 in the staircase, 201 in the 15 rooms on the second floor, and 62 in the 5 cabinets of the split level between the first and second floor. Éva Szmodisné Eszláry, Anna Jakubik, and several other conservators assisted the Keeper of the Collection. This exhibition was the most extensive

18

permanent exhibition of the sculpture collection; it showed the most masterpieces, once again presenting the sculptures in chronological and stylistic order.

The photo (15) provides an insight into the 13th-century Corpus of the Master of Spoleto (inv. no. 51.930). On the right side, next to the door, we see a sculpture representing the Virgin and Child by the Sculptor of Fabriano (inv. no. 1182).

The fifth room on the second floor was occupied by Tuscan and Central Italian sculptures from the 15th century, pieces such as Andrea del Verrocchio’s (circa 1435 – 1488) Vir dolorum (inv. no. 51.937) and Tobias and the Angel (inv. no. 51.937). Both these sculptures were purchased in Italy by Ferenc Pulszky in the late 19th century. The photograph (16) shows the left sidewall and the entrance of the room where the terracotta sculpture of Saint John the Baptist at the Fountain (inv. no. 1173) was placed. The outermost relief on the right side was a Madonna created by the Follower of Benedetto

19

20

da Maiano (inv. no. 84.22) and formerly housed in the Delmár Collection.

The two exhibition rooms on the second floor housed the French, Spanish, Austrian, German, Netherlandish, and English masterpieces made between the 13th and 18th centuries. (17) German Gothic and late Gothic, often life-sized wooden and stone sculptures from the 14th-16th centuries were lined up in front of the walls of the second room. Just in front of the dark drapery stood a German or Prague Master’s Beautiful Madonna (inv. no. 4967) statue, and in the corner the Bust of a Female Saint made by the workshop of Jakob Kaschauer (inv. no. 7176) was also on display.

On the left side of the photo there is a space separated by a panel (18) where the Our Lady of Sorrows statue created by a Sculptor of the Meuse Region (inv. no. 4975) and the Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon made by the Follower of Hans Multscher (inv. no. 84.2) are both exhibited. It was rumored that the latter was also standing in front of a dark drapery in the home of its former owner, Emil Delmár.

21

A series of rooms on the split level between the first and second floor were the location of various smaller-scale sculptures created by Italian and northern schools of art. The first cabinet contained 15th century Italian, French, and Spanish sculptures.

At the right wall of the room (19) the Roman artist Alessandro Algardi’s (1598–1654) bronze statuette depicting Hercules and Iolaus with the Lernean Hydra (inv. no. 5358) was on display. In the middle the Reliquary Bust of a Female Saint, one of the 11,000 Virgins of Cologne made by a Sculptor of Sevilla (inv. no. 65.2) was placed, and a marble relief Pietà with Angels (inv. no. 84.20) was situated above them – the latter was in the former Delmár Collection.

The photograph (20) displays the first five cabinets on the split level between the first and second floor. Georg Schweigger’s (1613–1690) bronze statuette of Neptune on a Dolphin (inv. no. 57.3) – also purchased from the Delmár Collection – was placed in the centre of the second cabinet. On the left, Leonhard Kern’s (1588–1662) sculpture

representing the Three Graces (inv. no. 6145) was on view, and in the last room a bust depicting Georg Martin Kovachich (inv. no. 8336) made by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt was also exhibited.

This permanent exhibition existed until 1976 when the cabinets on the split level between the first and second floor were closed to the public. Subsequently, in 1978, owing to the roof renovation, the exhibition rooms on the second floor were also closed.

On the second floor the exhibition was temporarily re-opened to visitors between 1985 and 1987. The lapidarium installed in the staircase was finally removed in 2012. Recent rearrangements have resulted in the movement of the wells and other stone fragments to the Renaissance Hall.

The current and newly arranged permanent (21) exhibition was finally re-opened after 25 years. On the split level between the first and second floor, in a series of three rooms, the 109 major masterpieces of the collection are now on display. The preparations for this exhibition took more than three years, in the course of which 19 pieces were conserved and 64 pieces were preserved. Beyond exhibiting the best-known sculptures, the exhibition also provides insights into the secrets and special production techniques of the workshops. Conservators have applied the original methods and traditional materials and techniques in making samples, thus highlighting the important details of the displayed sculptures and enabling the viewer to observe and follow the various stages of the creative process.

Curator of the current permanent exhibition: Miriam Szőcs Compilation: Andrea Rózsavölgyi Graphic design: Ágnes Megyeri Reproduction: Csanád Szesztay