Reviews of the Sigismundus exhibition catalogue

One of the most important medieval art history exhibitions organized in Hungary was the one dedicated to King and Emperor Sigismund in 2006. 

Shown first in Budapest and later in Luxembourg, the exhibition was accompanied by a catalog published in Hungarian, German and French. Several other publilcations were also published in conjunction with the event, including the acts of a conference held a year before. The full list of publications can be seen on the website of the exhibition. A few photos of the exhibition are available on my website.

The exhibition catalogue, titled Sigismundus - Rex et Imperator: Kunst und Kultur zur Zeit Sigismunds von Luxemburg, 1387-1437, was edited by Imre Takács, with the assistance of Zsombor Jékely, Szilárd Papp, and Györgyi Poszler. It was published Philipp von Zabern of Mainz (ISBN 978-3-8053-3626-0).
Over the years, a number of detailed reviews have been written of this exhibition catalog. I am listing a few of them below. Some reviews also discuss the conference volume, edited by Michel Pauly - François Reinert and titled Sigismund von Luxemburg: Ein Kaiser in Europa. Tagungsband des internationalen historischen und kunsthistorischen Kongresses in Luxemburg, 8-10. Juni 2005.

• Review by Tim Juckes in Renaissance Studies (Oxford), 21 (2007), 99-105, pdf version in Google docs or through CiteULike.
• Review by Len Scales in English Historical Review, 124, (2009), No. 509., 944-946, pdf version in Google docs or through CiteULike.
• Review by Ana Maria Gruia in the online journal Studia Patzinaka (Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies), No. 3 (2006), direct link to pdf version.
• Review by Ansgar Frenken on H-Net Reviews (H-Soz-u-Kult), 2007.
• Overview of the project by Ernő Marosi in The Hungarian Quarterly, 2006. Marosi also wrote a review of the catalogue in 
  Bulletin du Musée des Beaux-Arts – A Szépművészeti Múzeum Közleményei, 105 (2007).
• Overview on Chronico.de by Marcel Schwarzenberger, 2006.
• Hungarian language review by Tünde Wehli in Új Művészet, 2006.
• Another Hungarian review by János Végh, in Művészettörténeti Értesítő 2007/1.

In addition, there is a long review by Štefan Oriško in, Ars (Bratislava), 39 (2006/1), 31-52 (abstract here) and also by Matthew Palmer in Acta Historiae Artium, 48 (2007), 341-349, neither of which is available online. 


An important review by Klara Benešovská is not only about the Sigismundus exhibition, but also about another important venture dedicated to the Luxemburg dynasty, the exhbition Prague - The Crown of Bohemia, shown in New York and Prague. It was published in Perspective, La revue de l'INHA 2008/1, 138-145. For more on the Luxemburg dynasty, you should also read the review of the conference volume Prague and Bohemia, edited by Zoë Opačić, in The Medieval Review. This period, one of the high points of Central European Art, will also be the subject of an international colloquium organized in Maribor, Slovenia, early next year.

Medieval art exhibitions worldwide

Virgin and Child from Toporc,
Hungarian National Gallery
Currently on view in London

Two new exhibitions mentioned before on this blog are now open:

• D'or et de feu - L'art en Slovaquie à la fin du Moyen Âge, at the Musée du Moyen Âge - Thermes et Hôtel de Cluny, Paris.
• Treasures from Budapest: European Masterpieces from Leonardo to Schiele, at the Royal Academy in London, featuring several Hungarian medieval objects.

As far as the late medieval art of Upper Hungary is concerned (shown at Musée de Cluny), a unique opportunity for comparison will be offered with the opening of another exhibition at the Grand Palais in early October. Titled France 1500, entre Moyen Âge et Renaissance, that exhibition will present the same period as at the focus of the "D'or et de feu" show. While in Paris, you may want to check out the show at the gallery Les Enluminures, titled also France 1500 (The Pictorial Arts at the Dawn of the Renaissance), or at least the accompanying beautiful virtual exhibition.

D'or et de feu

A new exhibition is coming to the Musée de Cluny (officially Musée national du Moyen Age) in Paris, titled "D'or et de feu" (Out of Gold and Fire - Art in Slovakia at the end of the Middle Ages), and opening on September 16th. The exhibition aims to survey the Late Gothic heritage of Slovakia, an area which formed the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Organized in cooperation with the Slovak National Gallery (Bratislava), the exhibition will showcase paintings, sculpture, goldsmith works from several collections in Slovakia. As apparent from the (sub)title and the press release (pdf), the exhibition will focus mainly on the 15th century, thus the periods of King Sigismund and King Matthias, as well as the Jagiellonian rulers Vladislas II and Louis II (contrary to the press release, Hungary was of course not "part of the powerful Habsburg Empire" at that time).

A catalogue for the exhibition is in preparation. The curator representing the Slovak National Gallery is Dusan Buran, who organized the 2003 exhibition on Gothic in Slovakia and edited its catalogue. He is responsible for the permanent collection of this part of the Gallery.

More information on the exhibition will be posted here as it becomes available. You can follow the preparations on Twitter, courtesy of Musée de Cluny.

Medieval winged altarpiece to travel to London

After the London exhibition of the Liechtenstein collection was canceled, plans were quickly made to fill the void with an exhibition based on the holdings of Hungary's premiere art museum, the Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest). An article in the Guardian (15 May 2010) gives one some idea about the selection process: when the show's curator, David Ekserdjian inquired about the possibility of including a Leonardo drawing in the show, the response from Budapest was: "Why don't you have two." In addition to important pieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, several objects will be included from the Hungarian National Gallery, the museum dedicated to the history of Hungarian art. The result will be: Treasures from Budapest: European Masterpieces from Leonardo to Schiele (25 September, 2010 - 12 December, 2010).

Little if any art historical significance can be expected from such exhibitions - although in addition to providing viewing pleasure to their public, they presumably draw some attention to Hungary and the rich artistic collections of the country. In this context it was quite surprising to learn, that one of the pieces included in the upcoming exhibition is a complete medieval winged altarpiece, the main altar from the church of Liptószentandrás (today Liptovský Ondrej, Slovakia). The altarpiece, made in 1512 and illustrated below, survived fairly intact along with its intricate carved canopy.