Az, vagy egy másik? Az Esterházy-kincstár Vezekényi-dísztáljáról = That One, or Another One? About the Vezekény Basin of the Esterházy Treasury

Kiss, Erika (2021) Az, vagy egy másik? Az Esterházy-kincstár Vezekényi-dísztáljáról = That One, or Another One? About the Vezekény Basin of the Esterházy Treasury. In: Reneszánsz és barokk Magyarországon. Research Centre for the Humanities, Institute of Art History; BTK Művészettörténeti Intézet, Budapest, pp. 159-176. ISBN 9786155133183

Preview

Text Az_vagy_egy_masik_Az_Esterhazy_kincstar.pdf - Published Version Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract

The huge silver vessel called the “Vezekény Basin” is the surviving piece of an ornamental lavabo set, a well-known item of the Esterházy Treasury. Thanks to the researches and writings of Angéla Héjjné Détári, then Géza Galavics and András Szilágyi, today its master, the persons and ideas motivating the creation of the work are known. Géza Galavics pointed out the source published by Lajos Merényi in 1903, which claimed that György IV Homonnai Drugeth (1633–1661) had ordered a similar lavabo set to the known one from the same master of Augsburg, Philip Jacob II Drentwett: Homonnai was the brother- in-law of Pál Esterházy (1635–1713), the husband of his younger sister Mária. The contract was dated March 1655, at a time when the lavabo set including the “Vezekény Basin” was among the possessions of Pál Esterházy, the pater familias at a young age, as the inventory taken in November 1654 proves. As a member of the research teams investigating the art patronage of Ferenc Nádasdy (1623–1671) and then of Pál Esterházy, I studied several sources that were new to me. These included an inventory written in Sárvár in July 1662. In it someone deposited his or her treasures into the hands of a “sister or aunt”, Anna Júlia Esterházy and her husband Ferenc Nádasdy, to be kept in the treasury of Sárvár. As the date of the “inventory of deposits” suggests, they were presumably the property of Mária Esterházy and her late husband, György Homonnai Drugeth, who died around that time. The list clearly reveals that a silver “lavabo with basin” like the Vezekény set was also included. This might prompt the conclusion that Homonnai’s lavabo set had also been created, and a new important art patron “with a trained eye” was found in the early modern period, not surprisingly “around” the Nádasdy and Esterházy families. Taking a closer look at the new and the allegedly known sources, the questions keep multiplying: Was Homonnai’s set really the second one, similar to the set ordered by Ferenc Nádasdy? What are, by the way, the sources of Nádasdy’s commission? If there were two sets, when was the set from which only one object is known today made? Several cogent arguments can be adduced for and also against the date 1654. If there was one set, how did it get from the Homonnai–Esterházy couple to Pál Esterházy? And, more importantly, when? I cannot promise a solution to the enigma, since I do not know it. However, by juxtaposing the sources, I should make an attempt to outline a possible version.

Actions (login required)

Edit Item