Renaissance Architecture in Hungary [antikvár]

Renaissance architecture evolved in the city state of Florence, around 1420, under such economic, political and cultural conditions, which were quite unique indeed in the history of Europe. The new style confined itself first to Italy and Dalmatia and only from the first decades of the sixteenth century on did it spread across Europe. Hungary was an exception, where, thanks to Matthias Corvinus (King Matthias, 1458-1490), Renaissance architecture took root much earlier, around 1479, because of very favourable conditions present at the time to receive the new art. Hungarian Renaissance architecture is different from its early counterparts found in other countries of Europe north of the Alps in the sense that its surviving architectural ornaments are distinctly classical in the Italian Renaissance way, all'antica in their character, as it was called at the time. We do not find these characteristic signs on the first works of French, German, etc., Renaissance which evolved two to three decades later. This phenomenon deserves our attention because in fifteenth-century Hungary, as well as in other European countries outside Italy, Gothic was the dominant style in architecture. To assume, then, that Early Hungarian Renaissance architecture was entirely the work of ItaUan masters, while local artists were left out completely from the realization of the projects, would be quite inconceivable, if not only because of the volume of the construction that took place. There are a number of factors behind the unusually early appearance of Renaissance architecture in Hungary. Beginning with the fourteenth century, for instance, some of the Italian states and Hungary became linked by political, dynastic and cultural bonds, which were steadily growing stronger. The greatest impetus, however, for transplanting the Renaissance style onto Hungarian soil proved to be Mattliias Corvinus's policy towards Italy between 1463 and 1484. The basis for such a policy was provided by attempts to centralize power within the monarchy, which had begun at an unusually early stage due to the threatening presence of the Turkish Empire. The King turned to Italy in order to secure a more effective defence against the Turks. In Italy at the time Pope Pius II—following the policy of his predecessors—was busy promulgating a crusade against the infidels and, for the sake of that cause, he was very anxious to form a league with the countries of Europe. It was the planned marriage of Matthias Corvinus with Battista Sforza, Francesco Sforza's daughter, which would have consolidated his participation in the league against the Turks. Both the marriage and the crusade, however, came to nothing, although its idea was not given up completely, either by Pope Paul II or by Sixtus IV. A closer connection between Matthias and the Italian states was established, however, at a later date when he got in touch with the new Lega in 1474. This Lega was an internal alliance among Italian states, led by Pope Sixtus IV, and its members were Ferdinand of Aragon, King of Naples, Lorenzo de' Medici, of Florence; Federigo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. After the engagement in 1474 to Beatrice of Aragon, daughter of the King of Naples, and with the succeeding marriage in December 1476, Matthias "married into" this alliance, where the members commissioned the greatest Early Renaissance painters, sculptors and architects. These circumstances greatly influenced the "export" of architecture. Since the architects also worked as military engineers, they were the jealously guarded confidants of their masters. Therefore, whenever the mighty employers decided to part with the services of their architects for a certain period of time, they would only do this in favour of their political allies and never for the benefit of their opponents. The Florentine architects, sculptors and inlay-makers in the 1470S were still holding on, like in any monopoly, to the secrets of certain methods of the new style. They brought them eventually, however, into general use in other parts of Italy where they were free to go now, frequently on the recommendation of Lorenzo de' Medici, since he was not initiating at that time any big construction projects in Florence. During these years, many Tuscan master builders worked in Rome on the palaces of the Pope and of the Cardinals. Around 1480 the Sistine Chapel's sculptural ornamentation was completed. Many Florentine artists were employed by the duke of Urbino, Federigo da Montefeltro, who had his palace constructed and decorated between 1468 and 1482. The duke's Florentine cabinet-makers finished his famous studiolo, decorated with magnificent intarsia, in 1476. Some of the sculptors from Florence were also work-