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Nicolaus, scriptor librorum serenissimi Mathie regis •
A Corvina könyvtár budai scriptora
Nicolaus, scriptor librorum serenissimi Mathie regis •
The buda scribe of the Corvina library
Wholly new aspects have lately enriched the research of the Buda library of King Matthias Corvinus, Bibliotheca Corvina. the library – in the last years of its history – is regarded as a self-contained new entity. Research has adopted a far more complex approach than earlier, including the differentiation of the Buda scribes, the recognition of the text critical work of the humanists and of course the activity of the book-binders. Of particular importance are the new investigations of Edina Zsupán, who has managed to prove that several important Corvina manuscripts were copied in Buda. they include the ransanus codex (Budapest, OSzK, Cod.Lat.249), the Beda Venerabilis Codex (Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 175), the philostratus (Budapest, OSzK, Cod. Lat. 369) and the Averulinus corvinas (Venezia, Bibioteca nazionale Marciana, Lat. VIII. 2 [-2796]), as well as the nagylucse psalter (Budapest, OSzK, Cod. Lat. 369) adapting to the corvinas in all respects. the material of the folios of each is a more roughly finished Central European parchment and the copiers could be identified on the basis of the individual features of their handwriting. However, no names can be attached to them for the time being.
Unexpectedly, a datum was found in a diploma in which a certain Nicolaus, alias scriptor librorum serenissimi Mathiae regis can also be read about. the datum was found in a formularium, so the information about the missilis is defective, but the protagonists can be identified. the letter was written to archbishop cardinal tamás Bakócz who was in rome at that time (1512–1514), and the writer of the letter was probably the bishop of Gyulafehérvár Ferenc Várdai (1513–1524), who asked that in view of the merits of magister senis, he should kindly try and get a papal promissory deed for some church stipend for his frater germanus, magister Nicolaus alias scriptor librorum serenissimi Mathiae regis. this magister senis, the only person actually named in the letter, is Filippo Sergardi (philippus de Senis) (1466–1536), a cleric with lots of curial stipends born in Siena. He visited Hungary as a member of cardinal pietro Isvalies’ legation (1500–1503). He established close relations with the cardinal and archbishop of Esztergom tamás Bakócz and other Hungarians. this nicolaus was his relative, who used to be the scribe of King Matthias’ books.
Festett oklevelek és kódexek a késő középkori Magyarországon a művészettörténész dilemmái
Illumined diplomas and manuscripts in late medieval hungary. dilemmas of the art historian
In 1523 the papal legate Tommaso de Vio corroborated the statutes of the Pest Confraternity of the Virgin. The large booklet-shape diploma is representatively executed: the first page carries floral ornamentation in addition to the text. The decoration and the titulus starting the textual part, however, are archaizing, in line with the practice of the papal chancellary, instead of adopting the then widely popular modern all’antica decoration. The style of the embellishment of a diploma depended on the type of the diploma.
Hungarian art historiography has long been resorting to letters patent of nobility in its efforts to date and define the place of origin of the manuscripts from the time of King Matthias and the Jagiello age. That was how the manuscripts of provost of Székesfehérvár Domokos Kálmáncsehi – including the activity of the master of the Breviary Francesco Castello (OSZK, Cod. Lat. 446) – could be located to Buda, and three ornamental manuscripts with music (OSZK, A24; Bratislava, Archív mesta, EC Lad. 6; Zagreb, MR 2) could be proven to have ties to Buda in the early 16th century. The Bakócz Gradual (Esztergom, MS I. 1a.), the Erdődy Missal (Zagreb, RK 354) and the Gradual of Máté Tolnai (Pannonhalma, Caps LIV. F f.) as well as the overwhelming majority of letters patent issued in Buda between 1514 and 1525 were illumined by the so-called Bakócz monogrammist. The letters granting nobility and armorial bearings in the Jagiello age are not merely props for art history but also constitute a separate diplomatic genre.
Bakócz Tamás címerével ellátott tárgyak egykor az esztergomi főszékesegyházban •
Tárgyegyüttes-rekonstrukció a kincstár leltárai alapján
Objects carrying the coat of arms of tamás bakócz once in the cathedral of esztergom •
Reconstruction of an assortment of objects on the basis of treasury inventories
The study collects the liturgical textiles with connection to the person of Cardinal Tamás Bakócz (1497–1521), archbishop of Esztergom, which used to be in the cathedral sometime in the past. The method adopted is looking diachronically through the basilica treasury’s inventories and other, 16–18th century written sources (high priests’ testaments). The main aim of the research is to explore the history of the survival of the chasuble adorned with the cardinal-archbishop’s coat of arms and preserved in the treasury of Esztergom cathedral. Apart from collecting the paraments, the study also gives a glimpse of the maintenance of paraphernalia in the treasury of the Esztergom basilica and its history after the lost battle at Mohács in 1526.
New research concerning Florentine Artists in Hungary at Buda, Esztergom and the Bakócz-Chapel. The hitherto unknown documents discussed here regard the time from ca. 1470 to 1504. They give us the names of Florentine artists who worked for Matthias Corvinus and his successor Wladislaw II as well as for the Archbishop of Esztergom and Primate of Hungary, Tamás Bakócz. Until now, only the sculptor Gregorio di Lorenzo, the wood carver Chimente Camicia and five carpenters who worked under his supervision in Buda were known. According to Vasari, Chimente Camicia was the leading master who worked not only in wood but was also an architect and engineer who is said to have looked after Corvinus’ buildings including fountains and gardens. However, this can no longer maintained because the newly discovered documents establish that Gregorio di Lorenzo was Corvinus capomaestro. He was in Buda between 1475 and the early 1490’s. Besides his figural works, he was also responsible for a certain Hungarian decorative style that went back to Giovanni di Bertino who was the brother-in-law and collaborator of his teacher, Desiderio da settignano. The recognition that a stone carver without architectural expertise could direct building projects for Matthias Corvinus confirms the view that the extant Gothic buildings in Buda were rather ‘modernized’ than newly created Renaissance structures.
The new documents also give us the names of six stone masons and sculptors so that we have a more precise picture of the Buda artistic scene. Among these, were Francesco di Bartolomeo telli and his companion Simone di Francesco, Filippo di Pagno di Lapo Portigiani, Martino di Matteo di Mario di Maino, Giovanni di Romolo di Tomaso Michi and Francesco di Antonio di Piero. More exact informations are obtainable only for Filippo di Pagno and Giovanni Michi. This enables the suggestion that Filippo di Pagno who was trained in Bologna by his father Pagno di Lapo as a sculptor and architect, may have been responsible for the invention of a double tiered loggia in the Court of State in Buda in order to hide the heterogeneous Gothic buildings for a more harmonious appearance. Palace courtyards with such loggia were typical of contemporary Bologna but not of Florentine palace architecture.
Giovanni Michi is documented as a collaborator of the bronze specialist Bertoldo di Giovanni who was in the service of Lorenzo il Magnifico. Therefore, he belonged to the inner circle of Medici artists which included Giuliano da Sangallo and Francione. He must certainly have been involved with the execution of the glazed terracotta frieze at Poggio a Caiano which Bertoldo created at Lorenzo il Magnifico’s behest. Michi was also a close friend of Michelangelo whom he knew from the San Marco garden workshop and from his subsequent activity as manager of Michelangelo’s Roman studio between 1508 and 1510. Since Michi very probably learned bronze techniques from Bertoldo, he is a plausible candidate for some of the documented bronzes in Buda, such as the Centaur Battle which was undoubtedly indebted to the precedents made by Bertoldo and Michelangelo in Florence.
New names also emerge for the carpenters and intarsia makers in Corvinus’ employ in Buda among whom were two other members of the Camicia family: Niccolò di Nardo and Jacopo di Biagio Camicia. It also turns out that Gaetano Milanesi’s claim concerning the brothers Baccio and Francesco Cellini in Buda can now be substantiated. The most important of those artists was Jacopo Camicia whose artistic career has been reconstructed by the author. He was trained in the important workshop of the Geri brothers who worked for Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici and there made excellent professional contacts. Jacopo was in Buda at the latest from 1477 and is further traceable into the early sixteenth century. He led the workshop which made the burial chapel in Esztergom for Tamás Bakócz. Since 1475/1476 Jacopo had been involved with the first project for the inner façade of Santo Spirito in Florence which influenced the architecture of the Bakócz-Chapel as already noticed in the literature, he may well have been its architect.
The account books of the Florentine merchant active in Buda, Antonio Bini, mention other Florentine artists then busy there and elsewhere in Hungary. Among these was the scarpellino Giovanni di Romolo di Domenico Baccelli who was Giuliano da Sangallo’s nephew. He had been trained in the workshop of Jacopo del Mazza and Andrea Ferrucci who worked closely together with the Da Sangallo brothers. These connections suggest that Giovanni Baccelli and his workshop carried out the two sacrament tabernacles at Pest and Pécs, and also provide reasonable evidence to attribute to him the execution of the ornament in the Bakócz-Chapel since these are closely related to the design and style of the formal vocabulary of the Del mazza/Ferrucci workshop. Therefore, we can now identify the Florentine masters who created and executed the most important Renaissance building in Hungary: Jacopo Camicia who planned the chapel and Giovanni Baccelli who directed the stone masters who carved it out.
Style and Inscription
Inscriptions in classical and early humanist capital letters cut in stone in Hungary in the age of King Matthias and the Jagiellos
The practice of using classical capital lettering was introduced north of the Alps from Italy in the second half of the 15th century, and appeared very early in the Kingdom of Hungary. The article contains six case studies on the problems of architectural carvings, stone tabernacles, tombstones and the classical inscriptions on them. I. Tabernacles. All’antica tabernacles were produced in large numbers in late mediaeval Hungary and survive in churches from monumental to very small. The tabernacle frames, which followed the antique architecture of the façade, were accompanied by inscriptions: quotations about the Eucharist or, less frequently, inscriptions referring to the maker. II. Inscriptions outside the royal court. Outside the Buda residence of King Matthias, inscriptions engraved with humanist capitals also appeared, earlier than in the royal court, according to our present knowledge. The earliest dated inscriptions in Hungary survive in Veszprém and are attributed to Bishop Albert Vetési, the best known being a text written on ribbons running on a Gothic console (1467). The all’antica heraldic stones known from several places in the country are often dated, the earliest being found in the Nógrád castle of Miklós Báthory, the humanist bishop, with the date 1483. III. The royal court. Monumental all’antica inscriptions adorned the royal palace in Buda: building inscriptions, statue bases. Their texts are mostly known only from sources, as few original stone carvings have survived. These inscriptions were sometimes in bronze letters, but there were also engraved ones. The monumental inscriptions were associated with King Matthias, while the inscriptions known from the time of Vladislaus II are smaller in size and do not have bronze lettering. IV. Epitaphs. Antique letters also appeared as circular inscriptions on late medieval tombstones. The epitaph written in distychs was often engraved in a tabula ansata. Rarely, the wording was also antiquated, as exemplified by the abbreviations DOM, DOMS, DM. V. Inscriptions around Hungary in the Jagiellonian period. The commissioners of early inscriptions were familiar with the all’antica inscriptions of the Buda court. In Vienna, the first known all’antica inscriptions can be attributed to a citizen of Buda, Peter Juncker, and in Moravia to the lords of Tovačov and Moravská Třebová (Ctibor Tovačovský z Cimburka; Ladislav z Boskovic). VI. Architectural inscriptions of the Jagellonian period in Hungary. Inside the sepulchral chapel of Tamás Bakócz in Esztergom there is a bronze donation inscription (1507), in keeping with the perfect Renaissance centralised space. After 1500, all’antica building inscriptions became common in Hungary. We know of many of them, mainly in the Transdanubian region, written in pure classical capitals. In the northern part of the country, the early humanist capitals are more common; the Biblical quotations and proverbs on the staircase of the town hall of Bártfa were written in such letters. In Transylvania, classical capitals are again common: the inscriptions of the Lázói Chapel, built next to the cathedral in Gyulafehervár, or the Várday Chapel were also carved in such letters.
Cracow and Vienna, was employed by Cardinal Tamás Bakócz, archbishop of Esztergom, as secretary in 1511 He wad to live through the course of events preceding the Dózsa Revolt as a member of the archbishop's retinue —Bakócz’ journey to Rome, the
result, from 1429 onwards the position of the parson was filled by renowned and highly esteemed persons. The following are just a few examples from the later part and the turn of the century: 1475–1483 Bálint Bakócz, brother of Tamás Bakócz, Archbishop of