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The past was reinvented in the Augustan culture through true or fictitious archaic cults, and this paper deals with some priesthoods related to sacred groves, or with the iconography of sacred luci appearing in some coins. Some examples are considered, such as an inscription from Peñaflor/Celti (Seville) mentioning a pontufex nemoris, a reference to the eques P. Aelius Marcellus, who appears in an epigraph from Umbria not only as Laurens Lavinas but also as flamen lucularis, or some images that document the reception of ancient notions of the sacred groves in the Roman provinces, as some recurrent types in the coins of Juba II of Mauritania depicting trees with an altar between them and the legend Lucus Augusti show. The question of whether these manifestations are merely expression of loyalism to the Emperor or whether they might imply some kind of local tradition is also posed.
Summary
The purpose of this paper is to produce an approach to Sol through Numismatics. I intend to point out the possible correspondences existing between the god Sol, referred to as Sol Invictus in historiography,1 and Apollo. While the solar facet of Phoebus Apollo is well known, to what extent he exerted an influence over Sol Invictus has yet to be elucidated. Comparing types and chronologies plus describing correspondences between the two gods in an homogeneous process may actually constitute a different approach. Three aspects will be taken into consideration: iconography exchange, the chronological relationship and the propagandistic function of coin legends. The aim is to incorporate the knowledge thus gained into a critical analysis of Sol in the 3rd century.
„Elle n'a point eu à subir […] la pourriture, les vers et la poussière…“
Remarques sur l'iconographie de la mort de Marie ŕ propos du triptyque d'Esztergom réalisé sous l'influ-ence du Maître du Retable du roi Albert
Summary
During the XVth Century one seldom finds a representation of the Death of the Virgin as the central theme of a tryptich. The Holy Spirit floating over the globe is as unusual for the iconography of this theme, as are the diabolic beasts abounding in the ground. The latter, just as the fly and the spider on the bedside are meant as symbols of sin. The decoration of the deathbed of Mary is reminiscent of the representations of the Arc of the Covenant. The commission of the tryptich is to be seen in the context of contemporary discussions over the Immaculate Conception. However, it is not anymore possible for us to decide which side's arguments were meant to be supported by this painting. The apostle lifting up a censer belongs to the same Rahmenthemen as the doctor lifting up the uroscope.
Summary
The ceiling fresco of the tower-room in Sárvár Castle follows with a few iconographic and compositional changes the fresco of Daniel Gran (1730) in the main hall of the Hofbibliothek (at present Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) in Vienna. The frescoes, in a bad condition and restored in 1960, were held to be works by Stefan Dorffmeister form the end of the 1760s. Mainly on the basis of its compositional qualities, the frescoes in Sárvár show many ressenblances with works by Joseph Ignaz Mildorfer, made in the 1750s and 1760s for Hungarian patrons, among them the ceiling of the Chapel in the Esterházy Castle in Pápa (1758), the dome-fresco of the Chapel (1964) and the ceiling in the main hall (1766/67) of the Palacee of Eszterháza. The closest relationship can be observed with the painted decoration of the state room of the Forgách Castle in Gács (Halič, Slovakia, early 1760s). The frescoes in S Sárvár can be dated according to the relationships of the owners before 1759, when the Castle belonged to Count Georg Szluha and his wife, Rosalie Sinzendorf (whose mother was a Countess Draskovich). The subject of the painting as well as the choice of the painter could be the result of the Szluha connection with the imperial court and also by the fact that his wife was related to Count Antal Grassalkovich. The latter was in contact with architects at the imperial court (N. Pacassi, J. N. Jadot), working with Mildorfer. The iconography of the tower-room represents a mixture of traditional iconography of libraries and of sale terrene, so its function as a private closet, a kind of Baroque studiolo can be supposed.
Árpád-házi Szent Margit ábrázolása egy lombard reneszánsz metszeten és Juan de Borgoña egy táblaképén
The iconography of Saint Margaret of the dinasty of árpád in a lombard renaissance engraving and in a panel of Juan de Borgoña
Saint Margaret (1240–1270) princess of the House of Árpád was seldom represented in mediaeval Hungary. She enjoyed popularity in Italy and due to a misconception she was represented there with stigmas, and numerous images of her stigmatisation – unknown in Hungary – have come down to us. Hungarian scholarly research has explored the literary and artistic sources regarding the emergence, development and decline of the topic, and has collected the images. The development of the iconography was examined parallel with that of Saint Catherine of Siena. The author of this paper have presented the development of the theme that begun with Giotto’s vision of Saint Francis with the seraphs set in the Assisi landscape, to the images of Catherine and Margaret receiving the stigmata from a crucifix in a sacred space. This paper believes the iconography reached the height of its development in an engraving previously unlinked with the imagery (Milan, Castello Sforzesco, Raccolta Grafiche. Art. prez. P. 425). In this picture, a composition evocative of the Crucifixion, the two saints receive their stigmata direct from the crucified Christ on the Mount Golgotha. The author supposes that, that the print is thought to have been commissioned by the Visconti- Sforza family or the friers of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. Finally, the author of this paper examines a panel of Juan de Borgoña (Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado [3110]). The panel represents three saints. One among them is Saint Margaret, with the stigmata. The with five lilys decorated wounds, was attributes of Blessed Helen of Hungary, who was regarded as the Magistra of Margaret.
Musée Guimet 1971 Chandra, Lokesh (2003): The Esoteric Iconography of Japanese Mandalas . New Delhi, Aditya Prakashan
The paper reviews the historical development of the portrait in Hungary in light of the early data on artists and works, changes in social demand, the emergence of diverse portrait functions and the changes in portrait iconography over the 17th century. The author concludes from the sources (inventories, last wills) that until the end of the 17th century the portrait was not a valued property but a fairly insignificant element of furnishing, except in a few art collecting aristocrats’ homes. In the second half of the 16th century, the portrait was often the document of social contacts. The earliest known painted portraits from the mid-16th century show members of the Hungarian upper nobility who belonged to the “supranational” aristocracy of the Habsburg Empire via some family relationship. Of these, the author devotes separate attention to portraits of a member each of the Thurzó, Zrínyi, Pálffy families, and to the one-time collection of portraits that probably passed from the wife of Ferdinand I., Anne of Hungary, to the wife of Count Ferenc Blagay and served as the model for several depictions in the portrait-book of Hieronymus Beck. There is mention again of the portrait of the Lord Steward of the Hungarian king’s household, János Krusics attributed to Giuseppe Arcimboldo by the author in 2008. Data in the inventories of several aristocratic households reveal that large, full-length portraits were painted from the second third of the 17th century. They were also specified by the occasion they were painted for, e.g. depiction of the deceased (31 catafalque portraits or their mentions are known from the 17th century), engagement, donation. Family series and ancestors’ galleries began to be formed in the last third of the 17th century under the inspiration of two sets of engravings, Elias Widemann’s portraits of 100 Hungarian noblemen (Vienna, 1652) and the “Mausoleum” of Hunnish-Hungarian leaders and kings (Nuremberg, 1664) ordered by Lord Chief Justice Ferenc Nádasdy. Both had a great influence on the development of 17th century Hungarian portraiture, first of all in terms of iconography. Finally, the paper discusses the alternative portrait representations of Hungarian aristocrats integrated in the court elite through the interpretation of inventories in Ferenc Nádasdy’s residences, pointing out the “double representation” they demonstrate one the one hand, and analyzing court portraits ordered with the aim of winning some political position or court dignity, on the other hand.
There is a type in the iconography of Saint Stephen which, although it is perhaps one of the best known portrayals of the saint, has nevertheless escaped the attention of art historical research. The woodcut in the Augsburg edition of János Thuróczy's Chronica Hungarorum (1488) is of interest not only from the viewpoint of art history; it is at least as important for the history of ideas and constitutional law, and it was not only in one particular period, namely at the very end of the 15th century that it became a special theme, but it proved to be very much alive in the following century with minor changes. The Hungarian source of the composition is a special theme that appeared in the 14th century, the portrayal of Saint Ladislas crowned by angels which was revived by the art propaganda for display of Louis I (the Great), based on Byzantine traditions and given current relevance. As far as we know at present, the motif of angelic coronation first appeared in the iconography of Saint Stephen on a woodcut printed perhaps in Ulm around 1460-1470. However, the immediate model for the woodcuts in the Thuróczy chronicle was very probably not this image of Saint Stephen but the relief of King Matthias Corvinus on the tower of the Ortenburg castle in Bautzen. Right from the time of its appearance the woodcut was an enormous success. This was due in part to its technique and message but the main reason why it became popular was its extremely important constitutional law implications for the feudal constitution, especially in the struggles for succession following the death of Matthias Corvinus (1490). Since it gave the most succinct expression of the doctrine of the Holy Crown, the constitutional law foundation of the Kingdom of Hungary, and could be updated later too, countless copies and variants were produced in the following centuries, particularly after the appearance in Nuremberg in 1664 of the Mausoleum published at the expense of Ferenc Nádasdy chief justice, right up to the 20th century. It was probably through this art channel that it trickled down later through further intermediary stations into folk tradition although there are only a few oral and pictorial traces of this.
Summary
One of the key questions in the studies of the Roman cult of Mithras has been, since the works of F. Cumont, the question about the religious historical origin of the cult – regarding which there is no consensus to this day. Theories about the origin of the cult can be divided into three groups: (1) the so-called “strong” Iranian thesis, according to which the cult was imported from Iran; (2) the so-called “weak” Iranian thesis, claiming that just a few, mostly irrelevant elements of the cult originated in Iran; (3) a radical stance that there is no consistency between the Roman cult of Mithras and the Iranian cult of Mithra and what the two have in common is simply the similar name of a god. The author of this presentation has studied comparatively the character of Mitra in Indian religious literature, that of Mithra in Iranian religious and mythological texts as well as in Iranian religious iconography, and Mithras in the cult devoted to him in Rome, and has concluded that the radical belief common in current Mithras studies, according to which Mithras is connected with Mitra and Mithra only by them having similar names, is just as erroneous as the “strong” Iranian thesis defended by F. Cumont and G. Widengren. Although it is certain that the Roman cult of Mithras is not a cult imported from Iran, but a new cult that originated in the Roman Empire, the author of this presentation maintains that the Roman cult of Mithras contains a series of motifs that can be found both in the Vedas and in Iranian mythological texts: connection of Mitra/Mithras with friendship and a contract of friendship; certain military traits; connection with cosmogony and the cosmic order; connection with light, the Sun and the chariot of Sol; the role of the god as a giver of water and fertility; the idea of a sacrifice that stimulates fertility. Based on the sources linked to the Roman Mithras, in particular the iconography, it may be claimed that a large part of these motifs did not have a peripheral role in the mythology connected with the cult, but they carried an important, maybe even a central role. As the previously mentioned motifs were already interrelated in India and Iran, the author of this presentation believes that their coexistence in the mythology of the Roman cult of Mithras cannot be a coincidence but testifies to the wider Indo-Iranian background of the central figure of the cult, the god Mithras, which should not be ignored even if the Roman cult of Mithras is viewed as a new cult that evolved in the Roman Empire and within the context of the Greco-Roman religion.
Konstantinápolyi Szent Lázár, a képrombolás vértanúja
Saint Lazarus of Constantinople, the martyr of iconoclasm
Abstract
Information on the life of Saint Lazarus was collected by the scribe who continued the Chronicle of Theophanes. It was also elaborated by Kedrenos. He was born in Armenia and came to byzantium at a young age to become a painter and monk. In 832 Theophilus order the destruction of icons. To persuade Lazarus, he summoned him. The tortures of the painter were put an end to by Empress Theodora. In gratitude to her, he painted an icon of St John the Baptist which worked miracles after Theophilus' death, and then he painted a large icon of Christ. Emperor of Byzantium Michael III sent him to Rome in 856 to the newly elected Pope Benedict III to discuss the possibility of reconciliation between the two churches and restore unity. An uncertain source mentions his death during another mission to Rome in 867. He is allegedly buried in Galata in the monastery of Evanderes. His cult in the Roman church was actualized by the “iconoclasm” of the Protestants. The council of Trent – similarly to the second Council of Nicea earlier – decided in favour of the veneration of icons.
The finest specimens of St Lazarus's iconography were produced by the noted copperplate engraving workshops of Augsburg. The illustration dating from 1753 of the Life of Saints by Joseph Giulini was popular all over Europe. In the engraving by Christian Halbauer made after Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner of the episode of Lazarus' arrest Christ on the cross can also be seen. The most important depiction shows the sainted monastic painter in a baroque atelier, working on his painting of St John the Baptist in the monastery of Phoberon. The hagiographic series of Annus dierum Sanctorum was sold in a volume already in the age of its creation, between 1737 and 1742. The indispensable series for the research of baroque iconography was the outcome of the joint endeavour of Gottfried Bernard Göz, Joseph Sebastian and Johann Baptist Klauber in Augsburg. Among the historicizing painters of the 19th century, Domenico Morelli depicted the four monks persecuted by Emperor Theophilus in bright colours in 1855, with the icon of St John the Baptism hanging behind the four condemned monks.
