Download would the Italian painter have traveled to the 1000km away cold

Botticelli
on the Danube?
In the ancient capital of Hungary, Esztergom, frescos in the style of Botticelli cause
controversy: did the master really travel a thousand kilometers from warm Florence to
the distant Danube town?
In the times of the Renaissance (and even before), artists throughout the Western world travelled to Italy
to admire the legacy of ancient Rome, the treasures of the Vatican and the wealth of city states like Venice
and Florence. It was the ‘iter italicum’, a (very precious) tradition that lives on until today in the ‘classical’
school trip to Italy.
However, there also was an
opposite route: for a good
commission, Italians went to the
thousand kilometers distant and
cold Hungary. As they spread
their knowledge and skills,
especially at the time of Matthias
Corvinus, King of Hungary
from 1458 to 1490, Wladislaus
II, who succeeded him until
1516, and next under Louis II,
until the latter was slain in 1526
by the Turkish invaders.
Wladislaus II stated that "the
[Florentine] trade merchants
were travelling to Hungary since
the earliest times, and that he
and his predecessors always
treated them fairly."
The 15th century Esztergom,
the first capital of Hungary, was
a cultural and academic center
wanting to mirror itself to
Florence and Bologna. Many
Renaissance artists visited the
city and left artworks. Was
Botticelli one of them?
The influence of Florence in
Hungary was so great that
Hungary even used a currency
based on the 'golden florin’,
whose name refers to Florence
(today, the Hungarian currency
is still called the 'forint ').
Florence and Venice struggled
for respect in Hungary, and so it
happened that in 1469 the city
of Florence even send a lion as a
gift. Italian artists such as
Masolino da Panicale (1383 1447) gave up orders in their
own country in favor of
invitations to Hungary. In 1480
Francesco Rosselli (1445 - ±
1513) went drawing there, so
that on his return in 1482 he was
wealthy enough to start his own
studio; he would become
famous as the creator of the first
world map with Americas
discovered by Christopher
Columbus and with his style
related to Sandro Botticelli.
Rosselli's ties to Hungary were
so intense that one of his
relatives
was
nicknamed
‘Girolamo del Buda’. Bernardo
Vespucci of Florence (14551527), brother of Amerigo
(whose name led to the word
‘America’), spent many years in
Buda.
A 19th century basilica was built
so to say on top of the 15th
century castle of Esztergom.
Esztergom, Florence of Central Europe
European centers of knowledge at that
time were Nagyvárad (today Oradea in
Romania) and later Esztergom. There,
Georg Peuerbach, a professor at the
University of Vienna, would make tables of
solar and lunar eclipses. They were known
as the ‘Tabulae Varadienses’ because he
referred the longitudes to the meridian of
Várad. The book was a standard guide for
European astronomers for over two
hundred years. A student of Peuerbach was the famous Regiomontanus (from Konigs-berg = Rex
Montanus).
The disagreement led to a
heated debate in which the
art historians described
each other not very
artistically.
Esztergom was the first Hungarian capital - it was known at the time of ‘Belgian’ crusader Godfrey de
Bouillon, who was received there by King Kálmán, in 1096. Regiomontanus, mentioned above, taught
there from 1465, at the Academia Istropolitana, and especially for him an observatory was built, with
various instruments. He worked on tables of orbits and declinations of planets. On June 20, 1467
Esztergom put itself on the academic world map by following the example of Bologna and erecting a
university with four faculties, blessed by papal permission. Prominent scholars of Europe gave up chairs
in Vienna, Paris and Krakow for Esztergom (for comparison, a common date for the founding of the
Belgian University of Leuven is 1425).
The cultural and academic revival came through the efforts of an ‘enlightened spirit’, Janos Vitez,
nicknamed ‘Lux Pannoniae’ (± 1405 to 1472). He was archbishop of Esztergom and 'Chancellor' of King
Matthias. He would decorate his palace in
A mysterious Italian box
grand style, but later, in 1543, it fell in the
Today, it is hard to imagine the Italian ‘high society’ travelled
hands of the Turks. After 1686, when the
to the faraway cold Hungary. An accidental discovery in the
Habsburgs
reconquered
the
city,
style of Indiana Jones seems to represent exactly this. Recently,
Esztergom did not regain its glory. In 1822,
an ancient painted box was discovered in Budapest, used by an
a basilica built on the hill of Vitez’
old Hungarian lady for all those years as a medicine box. It has
crumbled episcopal palace. The imposing
images which undeniably reminds the Italian Renaissance. The
church supplanted the former castle, so
scenes resemble an joyous entrance of grand marriage but a
that it came as a huge surprise when in
young child figures on it too, in the middle of a procession.
The box says itself it holds a secret: “Quod ut custoditorum
1934-38 murals were found in the ruins.
me nemo sciat”, or: “Nobody will know what is guarded by
me”. In the spring of 2011, the Renaissance box was shown to
the public for the first time in the art gallery Melange
(http://www.bergaleria.hu/) in Budapest. And it was no
coincidence the opening was made by Mária Prokopp, the
protagonist of the Hungarian Botticelli.
The frescoes appeared to be four allegories:
Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude and
Justice, though there might have been eight
others which were lost. The four female
figures, with their flowing hair and waving
garments clearly refer to the
Florentine tradition. Over the years,
Proof
Hungarian scientist Mária Prokopp
One of the most famous works
by Botticelli, the ‘Birth of
made the hypothesis acceptable that
Venus’ compared to a detail
a contemporary of Filippo Lippi or
from the Hungarian fresco (in
one of his students painted the
black and white).
frescoes. Since 2000, her compatriot
Zsuzsanna Wierdl also worked on
the art-works and applied new
photo-technical techniques she had
used in Rome. In 2007 she reported
that the frescoes were of the hand of
the great Sandro Botticelli. Many
news agencies around the world took
over the dramatic story of a
Hungarian castle where the swift hand of the ‘Birth of Venus’ would have gone to from the warm,
thousand kilometers distant Florence. But in 2011 the story may have appeared too good to be true.
Botticelli in Hungary
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, also known as ‘Alessandro Filipepi’, ‘Sandro Mariano’, or ‘Sandro
Botticelli’, was born in Florence around 1445. He began his artistic training with his brother, a goldsmith.
This is important because the drawings in Esztergom were performed with a small silver pin. It was a
method that pointed to a kind of exclusivity for the frescoes by Botticelli, and he owed it to his knowledge
of forging gold.
Botticelli continued his education at one of the foremost contemporary painters in Florence, Fra Filippo
Lippi (1406 - 1469), although sometimes the name of Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488) is mentioned.
The master spoke in the most admirable terms of his promising pupil, but when Filippo went to Spoleto
to work in the Cathedral, from 1467 until his death (!), Botticelli was not among his accompanying
disciples. Nobody knows why, but maybe he went to Hungary in those years? The Botticelli family and the
above mentioned Vespuccis were neighbors in Florence. Later they would give him the order for the
fresco ‘St. Augustine in his cell.’ It is possible that the Vespuccis provided their promising young
neighbors with an invitation to the castle of Esztergom. The already mentioned János Vitez was appointed
archbishop in 1465, so that 1466 would not seem impossible for dating the frescoes.
In 1470 Botticelli suddenly reappeared in Florence. Surprisingly, he disposed of ample financial resources
to set up a workshop and Filippino, the son of his former master Filippo Lippi, now belonged to his
disciples. Moreover, in May 1470 a very important work was assigned to him by Tommaso Soderini, who
looked after the interests of the Medici: Botticelli was allowed to paint two of the seven allegories for the
‘Court’, a room of the Mercanzia Palace. Soderini even put a then famous Florentine painter aside, Piero
Pollaiuolo (1443-1496), who brought the case before court. Eventually, Pollaiuolo would carry out six
works, Botticelli one.
It is a familiar story, but no one ever wondered how a young man could have gained so much prestige to
be compared to an established value as Pollaiuolo. Or had its name gathered international realm though
his work in Esztergom, Wierdl wondered? Eventually, Botticelli would win the battle: today, the panels of
Pollaiuolo and Botticelli hang in the Florentine Gallery of Uffizi, and Botticelli's definitely are the most
remarkable.
An audacious hypothesis
Botticelli died in 1510 and took the secret of the Esztergom frescoes with him. Unlike what was the case
with commands of other Italian artworks, no written documents were ever found. At a conference in
Florence in 2007 a fierce debate emerged between the Hungarian art historians and the American
specialist Louis A. Waldman, of the University of Texas at Austin. He was convinced the frescoes were
not the hand of an artist of the magnitude of Botticelli. The disagreement led to a heated debate in which
the art historians described each other not very artistically. The controversy even made it to some
Hungarian newspapers.
In a recent essay Waldman repeats his arguments. According to him, the female figures are in a clumsy
posture, have disgraceful proportions and meaningless expressions, and are roughly drawn with a modest
technique. He points out the figures of Prudence and Fortitude are both in about the same posture.
Temperance's ear would be too small, she would have big hands and it would appear that she has no
bones or muscles. Her hair is blowing to the right, but her clothing turns to left. A decorative fabric
apparently defies gravity. Instead of pouring water from one container into another, Temperance holds
the two jars so far apart that it would be impossible a fluid flows from one into another.
According to Waldman, the frescoes are provincial imitation of a then avant-garde style. Its painter
understood his patron wanted something ‘modern’, what meant, in those days, flowing hair and fabrics.
Waldman values the frescoes artistically as mere modest examples of Italian Renaissance painting in
Hungary. Prokopp and Wierdl replied by saying that Botticelli was only 21 when he, at least according to
them, painted the work. Moreover, he would have placed his initials, ‘MB’, ‘Mariano Botticelli’, on the
painting. Waldman again found this unlikely, for several reasons, and, briefly stated, he interpreted the
initials as an example of widespread 'Renaissance
vandalism’.
Furthermore, in another even more recent text,
Waldman provides a more credible alternative. The
unknown maker of the frescoes would indeed be a
Florentine painter, named Alberto or Uberto. These two
names, which, understandably, readily lead to confusion,
both point to a certain Lucantonio degli Uberti. He
worked in Esztergom around 1490 and is stated in a
contract under the name 'Maestro Alberto’. Stylistically
too, there are, along Waldman, evidences, as he
confirmed in an e-mail: "Your eyes will tell you he was
no Botticelli -- but Lucantonio degli Uberti who was one
of the most egregiously untalented artists from
Florentine Renaissance.”
About this allegory it is sure:
Botticelli painted it, for the
Mercanzia Palace in Florence.
The question is if the reader finds so too. Anyway, even
though there is no certainty the original frescoes are
Botticelli's, they contradict in a single glance of the eye at
a common prejudice. Indeed, former Eastern Bloc
countries such as Hungary are not necessarily associated
with a predilection for Italian refinement. Of course,
Hungarian artists such as Ferencz Liszt (1811-1886) are
well known, but often he is more associated with Austria,
since he lived in the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy.
And Bela Bartok (1881 - 1945) even emigrated to the US.
And so the frescoes show in any case and in a surprising
manner - whether they were made by Botticelli or by
Uberti - that Esztergom, so very early in history, in the
15th century, wanted to become a cultural and academic
center that could compete with Florence and Bologna.
Further reading
Wierdl Zsuzsanna, Prokopp Mária en Vukov Konstantin, ‘Botticelli - Az erények nyomában’, Studiolo
Editions, Budapest, 2009.
Louis A. Waldman, ‘Commissioning Art in Florence for Matthias Corvinus: The Painter and Agent Alexander
Formoser and His Sons, Jacopo and Raffaello del Tedesco’, in Italy and Hungary: Humanism and Art in the Early
Renaissance, ed. Péter Farbaky and Louis A. Waldman (Florence: Villa I Tatti/Leo S. Olschki), 2011, pp.
426-501.
Louis A. Waldman, ‘Lucantonio degli Uberti, ‘Albertus Pictor Florentinus’, and the Master of the Esztergom Virtues
(Octahedron Tattianum II)’, in Renaissance Studies in Honor of Joseph Connors, ed. Machtelt Isräels and
Louis A. Waldman, 3 vols. (Florence: Villa I Tatti, 2011), vol. I, Harvard University Press.