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| Tile from the knight-figure stove. Buda, 1450s. © Budapest History Museum |
A major exhibition on medieval stove tiles from Hungary is on view at the Budapest History Museum in Buda Castle. The exhibition is titled Heartwarming Middle Ages - Stoves and Stove Tiles in Medieval Hungary, and its chief curator was András Végh, the director of the Castle Museum. The use of stove tiles (unglazed or glazed) was a Central European invention and such stoves became increasingly common in Hungary starting from the early 14th century. The exhibition presents the development of tile stoves at the royal court and in aristocratic castles, and it also provides an overview of the most popular motifs - biblical, historical, heraldic, etc. - on stove tiles. These motifs are explained through comparisons with other media - books, prints, seals and other objects. The exhibition also discusses the techniques and development of the making of tile stoves.
Because of the durability of glazed tiles and because of the relatively clear dates we can assign to them, these objects are favorites among archaeologists. The Budapest History Museum - which preserves all of the archaeological finds from the royal palace of Buda - has a very extensive collection of tiles, which formed the basis of the exhibition. The local material was extended through a large number of loans from Hungary and abroad alike. Taken all together, the exhibition provides an unprecedented overview of the development and richness of this medium.
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| St John on a stove tile, from the Bothár-house, Besztercebánya © Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest |
Figural stove tiles from late medieval houses in Besztercebánya (Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) are among the most interesting sets displayed in the exhibition. The so-called Bothár workshop made good-quality glazed and unglazed tiles depicting saints and other figures. Most of the pieces are preserved today in the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest - you can browse these and other tiles from that collection in the Museum's collection database.
The exhibition will remain on view until September 2, 2018. A catalogue is in preparation. An exhibition website (sadly only in Hungarian) provides more information and photos of the exhibition.
Additional photos:
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| Stove tile from the Sigismund-period. © Budapest History Museum |
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| © Budapest History Museum |
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| © Budapest History Museum |
Thank goodness for the durability of glazed tiles... otherwise no-one would believe that such perfect works of art could have been created in small. Some of the eleven tiles in your last photo look like the type of tracery designs that might have been found on the windows of Gothic churches.
ReplyDeleteI can manage English, French and Hebrew. And with hefty help I could understand a bit of Italian and Spanish, but Hungarian is too difficult :)