The Galvanoplastic Replica of a Peter Cornelius Sketch for his Dante Ceiling Fresco in the Budapest Liszt Estate

Kovács, Imre (2006) The Galvanoplastic Replica of a Peter Cornelius Sketch for his Dante Ceiling Fresco in the Budapest Liszt Estate. Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 47 (1). pp. 1-17. ISSN 0039-3266

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Abstract

This study examines a piece of smith's work preserved in the permanent exhibition of the Budapest Liszt Memorial Museum, which portrays scenes from the Paradise of Dante's Divina Commedia. Formerly owned by Liszt, this object is a galvanoplastic replica of a sketched drawing by Peter Cornelius for his Dante ceiling in the Villa Massima in Rome. Even so, the work preserved in the Liszt Museum is nowhere mentioned in the literature on Cornelius. The name of the donor (cardinal Hohenlohe) and the year of its donation (1867) are already known to us. These circumstances allow us to conclude that its presentation as a gift may have been in connection with the successful performances of Liszt's Dante Symphony in Rome. The work was performed at the inauguration of the Dante Galeria (February 26th 1866). The patron of the exhibition was Johannes, the King of Saxony, in whose possession the drawing was at the time. The opening ceremony provided the occasion for Hohenlohe to come into contact with the ruler of Saxony, and request a loan of the drawing in order to make the galvanoplastic replica.

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