A barokktól a neobarokkig. A marosvásárhelyi Rózsák tere 52. szám alatti ház történetéből

Author(s): János Orbán / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: XIV/2019

Our study presents the history of a house from the middle of the eighteenth century until the end of the Austro-Hungarian period, located under no. 52 in the Trandafirilor Square (Rózsák tere). Today’s Revivalism style building was formed through the unification of two old land plots in 1897. On the northern plot, which today is a closed down alley and once stood in the vicinity of the Kisköz, around 1770 Imre Teleki, royal side judge, had built a two-storey building. In the first half of the nineteenth century this passed on to the wife of Baron József Bánffy, and later entered into the possession of apothecary István Kováts. Around the middle of the century it was already owned by the Armenian merchant Antal Gáspár, who in the 1870s had bought the neighboring house as well. The latter, in the last decades of the eighteenth century, belonged to lawyer Zsigmond Jánó and his wife Zsuzsanna Bodó. It seems that they were the ones, who in 1979 had built a house that survived until the end of the nineteenth century. Later, on both land plots merchant Gyula Gáspár, a well-known public figure and an enthusiastic patron of industrial development, also owner of the bathhouse in Corund (Korond), had developed the building which can be seen today in 1897. The small Jánó house was demolished and the house of Teleki was incorporated into a new, representative building, which on the ground floor gave place to shops and the upstairs contained the living quarters of the family. The building was expanded towards the back yard with additional premises. The proportions of the new building fit well into the line of Baroque and Historicism style two-storey houses that stood on the square. The constructed façade did not follow the authorization plan in its entirety. Nevertheless, it can still be considered one of the important local monuments of Baroque Revivalism, especially through its sophisticated façade sculpture (which could have been the work of the young Károly Székely, who had finished the local industrial vocational school at this time and later became a renowned sculptor). The master builder was Mihály Szarvadi, who in 1896 worked in many places in the town: he built for merchant Géza Petrás and doctor Elek Hints as well as for the writer István Petelei. The Baroque Revival architecture flourished in Târgu Mureş starting from the middle of the 1890s. Its main features are represented by a dynamic mass formation and rich stucco decoration of the façade, which were frequently inspired by the Austrian Baroque world. In the period of the analyzed architecture the following houses were built in this style: in 1896 the Makariás house, in 1897 the houses of brewery owner Albert Bürger, banker Hugó B. Tauszik, doctor Kálmán Marosi, and master builder Pál Soós, and in 1899 the magnificent two-storey tenement house of Béla Bányai on the main square. This style influenced the architecture of the town even in the first decades of the twentieth century.

A bolgár ajkú magyarok legnagyobb temploma

A vingai római katolikus templom építészeti tervpályázata

Author(s): Nóra Németh,Katalin Marótzy / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: X-XI/2016

After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise the state establishment worked as a stable system until World War I. The immovable scheme of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy state-system and the economic prosperity induced building operations. The society became more and more civilian thus the architectural competitions, as a phenomena of the free-market economy, spread widely. This process was favoured by the Association of Hungarian Engineers and Architects. Among the architectural competitions the ecclesiastical ones frame a different group. In these cases, the constitutor is not a faceless state organization or a capitalist company but a community who considered its church as an expression of their identity. The city of Vinga which is located near to Arad advertised a competition for designing a new catholic church in 1886. Vinga was founded at the middle of the 18th century when Bulgarian refugees won the right to settle down in the uninhabited territories of Temes County. They preserved their Bulgarian identity thus they regarded themselves as a part of the Hungarian nation, too. Their biggest town Vinga was built with wide roads according to a planned urban structure and they raised a neoclassical Roman Catholic church. The economic prosperity and the growth of the population induced the need for a bigger and representative church at the end of the 19th century and they decided to organize an architectural competition to find the most magnificent plan. In the same time, they were quite tight-fisted, thus this two aspects resulted a knotty situation. The process of the design competition and its criticism was not only published in the local newspaper: the bilingual Vingánska Nárudna Nuvála / Vingai Néplap, but also in the most prominent Hungarian architectural journal: Építési Ipar. As it was ordered the plans were designed in Gothic style. In the Hungarian historicism the neo-Gothic influence came from Viena. The architects, as Imre Steindl, who studied from Friedrich von Schmidt brought this trend to Hungary, and later as teachers propagated this to their students. The Vinga Church Building Comitee found Ottó Szehlo’s – a Steindl-follower’s – neo-Gothic proposal the best but they wanted to reduce the costs. After some complication the construction plans were made by Eduard Reiter, an architect from Timișoara (Temesvár). Examining the original drawings we can follow the alterations, how the concept and the details changed. From the elegant competition design Reiter made a cheaper and a bit provincial church and in some forms it is possible to find his own taste. The Roman Catholic church in Vinga became a huge three-bayed building with a low-keyed crossnave, the white walls and rib vaults are emphasized with a decorative, ornamental painting. The furniture and the altars were made in the same style, giving us a magnificent general impression. The façade with two high towers determines the view of the city up to this day.

A bone disc with an inscription from Marina el-Alamein (Egypt)

Author(s): Grażyna Bąkowska-Czerner / Language(s): English Issue: 24/2020

A bone disc with an inscription has been found at the archaeological site of the Greco-Roman period at Marina el-Alameinin Egypt. It has a hole drilled in the center and a name IOULIOS (Ιούλιος) written in Greek letters on one side. One may wonder about the diskfunction. Names appear on theatre tickets and on game counters, but they also usually bear a number or an image, e.g. a figure or a building. In the town, which has been subject of a recent research, a large number of diverse types of game pieces were discovered; glass pawns and bone counters predominate among them, however, they differ from the discussed disc: they are smooth or decorated with cut concentric circles. The number and variety of pawns indicates diverse types and a big popularity of games among the inhabitants of Marina. The described disc may have been a strategic board game counter.

A budai műhely titkai

Author(s): Enikő Békés / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1-2/2021

Zsupán Edina (szerk.): „Az ország díszére” A Corvina könyvtár budai műhelye Kiállítási katalógus, Országos Széchényi Könyvtár, Budapest 2020. 488 oldal, 14 000 Ft

A Case of Self-Expression in Various Arts: Poet, Pianist-Composer and Music Critic Hans Schmidt (1854–1923)

Author(s): Baiba Jaunslaviete / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

Music criticism has always been a money earner for representatives of various creative professions – writers, composers and performers. An interesting research perspective is the interplay between these different fields in their work: does it reflect any parallels between the aspects of their creative personalities? From this viewpoint, the paper analyses the case of a long-term music reviewer Hans Schmidt who has documented the concert life in Riga, and at the same time, has gained appreciation as a poet, composer and performer – primarily, in the Baltic German cultural space.

A cinóber piros lángja (az ikonfestőktől az ikonszakértőkig)

Author(s): Draginja Ramadanski / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

George RUZSA: Icon Researchers and Icon Research in the Soviet Union in the First Half of the 20th Century. Sziklatemplom Pálos Fogadóközpont, Budapest, 2018

A Contemporary Approach of Las Meninas

Author(s): Irina-Andreea Stoleriu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The present study is meant to underline the importance of a famous work from the baroque period, Las Meninas, made by the painter Diego de Silva y Velásquez who has become a source of inspiration for future generations of artists. Numerous modern and contemporary artists have integrally or partially ”paraphrased” Velásquez’s composition by intercepting the portrait of revolutionary group for the time when it was created, extremely innovative regarding its compositional qualities and its hidden meanings which underlined the role and status of the artist in the context of a conservative society. Thus, the painting becomes the living proof of the way in which the artist manages to overcome the limitations of the social status of ordinary human beings, by portraying himself as a close friend of the royal family and by opening, through this type of representation, an important chapter in the history of portraiture.

A CONTEXT-BASED TRANSLATION OF CHAPTER 14 “DE VOCIBUS NATURALIBUS IN ANIMALIBUS EORUMQUE ANATOMIA” FROM THE LIBER ANATOMICUS DE NATURA SONI ET VOCIS OF ATHANASIUS KIRCHER’S MUSURGIA UNIVERSALIS SIVE ARS MAGNA CONSONI ET DISSONI

Author(s): Temina Cadi SULUMUNA / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2021

The author’s aim is to present a context-based English translation of chapter 14 titled “De vocibus naturalibus in animalibus eorumque anatomia”, from the Liber anatomicus de natura soni et vocis of Athanasius Kircher’s Musurgia Universalis sive Ars Magna Consoni et Dissoni published in 1650 in Rome. The article is divided into three parts. The first one (introduction) states the reasons for doing a context-based translation of the chapter. The second part forms the main and most extensive part because it presents the translation itself, along with annotations. In the third part, emphasis is laid on the author’s conclusions regarding the importance of a context-based approach to the translation of Kircher’s text. An examination of the context proved to be essential for achieving both clarity and quality in the translation, avoiding significant interpretative errors, distinguishing between Kircher’s own statements and covert quotations, and providing the reader with additional information contained in the annotations, which shed light on, and comment upon, the issues raised by Kircher himself.

A Dead Letter is a Good Start: a Study on Literary Genealogy of Emerging Genres in New Media

Author(s): Snježana Barić-Šelmić,Hrvoje Mesić / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The development path, starting with the first handprints and cave drawings of Lascaux or Altamira, which denote that someone was occupying the space, to the development and use of the new media, which range from 3D video mapping and levitating displays to holographic screenings of films, sport events, or music, serves the purpose of creating a culture. The mass use of technology has affected the educational purpose of connecting different cultures; furthermore, virtual and augmented reality, media consumerism and production serve as symbols of the so-called ‘culture power’ and they also act as proof of its transformation into the ‘Culture of Power’. This novel, virtual reality has undoubtedly captivated the interest and attention of the general public and integrated itself into interpersonal relationships. It should be noted, however, that this interest does not derive solely from the fact that this dimension represents something new but also from the human need to escape the mundane reality and seek fun, excitement, or simply to satisfy a habit, according to Inglis. The development and use of the new media have affected today’s society immensely; moreover, this can be observed in the example of constant paradigmatic changes, as well as the reach the technology has when it comes to wide and diverse audiences. The Internet, being the most influential technological innovation, has introduced the society to a new world, a new space called cyberspace. McLuhan has heralded the rise of the ‘Global Village’ that will come as a result of technological and media innovations. Today’s existence is not exclusively limited to the real world since the virtual realm has become essential to the entire humanity. To illustrate, numerous literary works have been created in cyberspace of the Global Village; furthermore, these works, which are bound to become part of the literary canon, should be genealogically classified, described to the fullest extent, as well as regulated.

A Diptych of Spiritual Maladies in Cinema: From Nostalgia (Andrei Tarkovsky) to Melancholy (Lars von Trier)

Author(s): Ruxandra Cesereanu / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

This essay aims to assemble (palimpsestically) the visions of several art creators on melancholia and nostalgia. It also undertakes a brief foray into the history of art and film by reference to several influential names: Andrei Rublev, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Albrecht Dürer, John Everett Millais, Andrei Tarkovsky and Lars von Trier. Moreover, it examines one of Andrei Rublev’s prominent works, The Holy Trinity, and Dürer’s Melencolia I (1514), a remarkable engraving from a visual and intellectual point of view. In cinema, the option for the visions of two directors (despite their differences of style, ideas and generations) is linked to the core representation of nostalgia and melancholia in Tarkovsky’s film, Nostalgia (1983), adjacent also to The Sacrifice (1986), and in Lars von Trier’s Melancholia (2011). The analysis proposed in this essay resorts to the ancient philosophical conception on melancholy, as well as to the interpretations on this theme provided by modern scholars, such as Sigmund Freud, Fritz Saxl, Erwin Panofsky, and Raymond Klibansky. The same goes for nostalgia, even though this a pre-modern concept.

A DRAMA THAT WAS NOT PLAYED IN HUNGARY. DRAMATIC WORKS OF PRESSBURG SCHOLAR AND WRITER TOBIAS GOTTFRIED SCHRÖER (1791 – 1850)

Author(s): Slávka Kopčáková,Pavol Zubal / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2021

The study deals with the dramatic works of a writer, professor of the Evangelical Lyceum of the Augsburg Confession in Pressburg, Tobias Gottfried Schröer. As a citizen of German descent striving to avoid the harsh censorship of the time, between 1820 and 1849, he published his works under various pseudonyms. Under his real name, he published only textbooks and three compendia intended for the Lyceum students. In Germany (Leipzig, Hamburg, etc.), he was quite a well-known writer; his short stories, poems and plays were published in various almanacs and collections. His drama work is almost unknown, and the number of his plays (existing as primary sources, including those that are only referred to), we estimate at fifteen so far. They were written approximately between the years 1806 and 1846, which testifies to their author’s lifelong interest in theatre and story dramatizations. A historical drama Leben und Thaten Emerich Tokoly’s und seiner Streitgenossen [The Life and Deeds of Emerich Tököly and His Comrades-in-arms by A. Z.] (1839), published in Leipzig under the pseudonym of A. Z., and a comedy Der Bär [The Bear] (1830) can be considered the most important.

A Family of Painters in 18th Century Mani: The Workshop of the Painter Panagiotis Klerodetis

Author(s): Sophia Menenakou / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

The work of the painter Panagiotis Klerodetis in Lakonian Mani dates from the years 1725–1789, according to the dedicatory inscriptions in the monuments he decorated. The archival sources (letters, reports) prove that the Klerodetis family lived in Lakonian Mani from the 16th to the 19th century. His teacher or teachers commemorated in the Brebeion of two churches, cannot be identified. However, his workshop, despite its limited geographical range, generated other painters: his disciple or relative who possibly decorated the latest church signed with his name, and Michael Klerodetis (1752–1803), who used the same preparatory sketches (anthivola) as Panagiotis Klerodetis.

A fölperzselt táj. Anselm Kieferről

Author(s): Sándor Radnóti / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 07/2020

The art of Anselm Kiefer (*1945) can be considered an attempt at the renewal of the landscape and the historical painting. Throughout several of his periods, his work centered around the German tradition. However, it would be wrong to interpret his early works within the framework of the positive process of “working through the past” (Vergangenheitsbewältigung). The virtual occupation of Europe with the Nazi salute is a much more of a cynical provocation, and the painter has confessed that through the work, he was seeking an answer to the question of whether he could have been a fascist. It is a provocation of the silence about the recent past, a provocation of the state which banned the salute by law, a provocation of his parents’ generation’s willing or unwilling commitment to Nazism, and a provocation against his own generation’s New Left activism. The 1970 Heroic Symbols III. stands out among these early works, the quality of which is generally not comparable to his later art. Heroic Symbols III. is related to Caspar David Friedrich’s famous painting Monk by the Sea. Kiefer’s painting also features a tiny figure at the center of a landscape. We must distinguish between the possible intention of the painter and the realized work. In the latter sense, the gesture displayed is not provocative but meaningless. There is no dialogue between society (history) and the nature that is its condition. Xerxes whipped the sea – and that was as pointless as a lone Nazi salute on the beach. The landscape does not respond to the historical challenge.

A Forgotten Manuscript from the Slavonic Collection in the Russian National Library

Един забравен ръкопис от славянската сбирка на Руската национална библиотека

Author(s): Elissaveta Moussakova / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 1/2018

Until recently the Gospel manuscript from the Russian National Library in St Petersburg, MS Q.п.І.3, now dated to the mid-14th century, was almost not known. It was found that its teratological headpiece on f. 85r is similar to a headpiece in the Four Gospels NBKM 1356 of about the same period. The compositions, though stemming from a common prototype, differ in their details. Being found in manuscripts of obviously different origin, they bring forth a number of issues such as the attribution of the two South Slavonic Tetraevangelia, their interdependence and relations with manuscripts and centres where the model patterns were used and copied in three 17th-century illuminated Gospels.

A fóti plébániatemplom építészeti szerkezetének, szobrászati és díszítő elemeinek kapcsolatai

Author(s): Anna Tüskés / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2017

Architectural Structures, Sculptural and Decorative Elements of the Parish Church in Fót An orientalising style with arabesque elements began to spread in European and North African architecture in the second quarter of the 19th century. The Parish Church of Fót – one of the major works of the romantic historicism in round-arch style (Rundbogenstil) in Hungary, commissioned by István Károlyi and built between 1845–1855 – shows this influence. The planning and execution testify to inspirations from the Western European Romanesque cathedrals in the structure. The painted and sculpted geometric and floral decorations are closely connected to Arabic and European Romanesque ornamental motifs.

A group of early Roman lamps from Chhîm, Lebanon: preliminary research on shapes, fabric and provenance

Author(s): Małgorzata Kajzer / Language(s): English Issue: XXIX/2020

The early Roman oil lamps from recent excavations by a Polish team in Chhîm constitute a significantly fragmented group. Macroscopic analysis of fabrics, combined with a typological study and complemented by iconographic research wherever applicable, revealed similarities between these lamps and similar finds from the Levant. The fabric underscores a production continuity from the Hellenistic period and reveals similarities with a regional semi-fine ware. The collected data suggest the Southern Phoenician coast as a potential center of production.

A Group of Reliefs from the Mramba Village (the Republic of Abkhazia): To the Question of Dating

Author(s): Ekaterina Endoltseva / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2019

Article deals with a group of reliefs from the church in Mramba village. Their were dated by the paleochristian period. New findings of the last ten years permit to adjust this version. They can be now referred to the Medieval period (10 – 11 century).

A Journey from the Altar to the Narthex: Metropolitan Christophor and the Monastery of Bachkovo

Author(s): Emmanuel Moutafov,Tereza Bacheva / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

In late 2019, an altar column and table were entirely uncovered with a Greek inscription on it at the catholicon of the Monastery of Bachkovo while mounting the restored 17th-century ciborium. The first part of the inscription was copied from an authentic source, an antimension or a book/codex, while the second was added containing typical of the period errors revealing the literacy skills of the scribe. The inscription is published here for the first time, but has been known since the first half of the 20th century. The donor’s inscription on the Holy Table in Bachkovo, containing the name of Metropolitan Christophorus, logically raises the question about its connection with the other donor’s inscription, used to date the construction of the Church of the Most Holy Mother of God Petritsonitissa, above the west door to the narthex: were they inscribed by the same hand, were the murals at the naos and those at the narthex painted at the same time?

A Journey Intramuros. Processions and Other External Rites in Liturgical Manuscripts of Thessalonica

Author(s): Ilias Karalis / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The article aims to provide an accurate presentation of lites and two other outdoor rites, Indictus and in trullo (Saint Sophia) acclamation, performed in the urban fabric of Thessalonica in 15th century. Secondly, it draws attention to the investigation of the impact that these ceremonies had on the faithful. Information will be drawn from the works of Symeon, archbishop of Thessalonica (1416/7-1429).