seCtion 3 | saints with deer: saint giles and the patron saints of Hunting

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TYROLEAN OR SOUTH GERMAN SCULPTOR (active ca. 1500)

Saint Giles

ca. 1500 Limewood, 128 × 42 × 32 cm Purchased from the Central Financial Institute, 1970 Inv. no. 70.2 Museum of Fine Arts, Sculpture Collection

Saint Giles migrated from the Greek peninsula to what is now the south of France, where he later founded a Benedictine abbey in the village named after him (SaintGilles-du-Gard). His attribute is the hind, which he rescued from the hunters of the Visigoth King Flavius. According to a story recorded in the eleventh century text, the Vita Sancti Aegidii, the hind, pursued by dogs, sought refuge with Giles, who caught an arrow fired at the deer with his own hand. Giles was revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, the protector of wild animals, and from the late Middle Ages he was often portrayed in German-speaking areas on murals, panel paintings, and winged altarpieces depicting the fourteen saints. The present sculpture may also have once been part of an altarpiece, although the shepherd’s crook is a later replacement. In the second half of the fifteenth century, it was mostly characteristic of the southern German regions to depict the elongated figure of the deer rearing on its hind legs and leaning on Giles with its forelegs. One of the finest examples of this can be seen on the carved winged altarpiece in the Lutheran church in Osternohe, near Nuremberg. The Budapest sculpture was once part of the outstanding art collection of Richard von Kaufmann (1850–1908), former minister of finance, in Berlin.

ADÉL DOMÁNY

LITERATURE:Cassirer and Helbing 1917, no. 315, table 42; Balogh 1975, vol. I, cat. no. 36; Budapest 1999, cat. no. 45.

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AlbreCHt dürer (nuremberg, 1471 – nuremberg, 1528) The Vision of Saint Eustace

ca. 1501 engraving, 355 × 259 mm purchased from the elischer collection, 1900 inv. no. 1900–496 Museum of fine Arts, Collection of prints and drawings

Albrecht dürer, the virtuoso draughtsman and printmaker of the northern renaissance, depicted sharply observed nature in rich, vivid detail in his engravings, brilliantly deploying shades of grey to conjure up almost painterly tonal transitions. the composition entitled The Vision of Saint Eustace, made around 1501, is the artist’ s largest engraving, depicting the conversion of placidus, a roman soldier who lived during the reign of trajan. According to legend, while out hunting, placidus saw the crucified Christ among the branches of a deer’ s antlers. the soldier, who took the name eustachius at his baptism, kneels in contemporary hunting attire beside his horse on the bank of a stream, spreading his arms wide as he watches in wonder the apparition in the background. the landscape, meticulously evoked with a system of differentiated lines, with hunting dogs depicted from different angles, is a perfect example of dürer’ s special sense for conveying scenes based on the direct observation of nature. decades later, during his visit to the netherlands, the artist sold or donated several copies of the engraving, which shows the great value of the work.

sZilViA bodnÁr

literAture: bartsch Vii, 73.57; Meder 1932, 60; schoch, Mende, and scherbaum 2001–2004, vol. i, 32.

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MiCHelAngelo AnselMi (lucca, ca. 1492 – parma, 1555/1556) Saint Giles

ca. 1523–1524 oil on panel, 54 × 46 cm purchased from the esterházy collection, 1871 inv. no. 995 Museum of fine Arts, Collection of old Master paintings

saint giles, one of the fourteen Holy Helpers, was, according to the Golden Legend, active in the south of france in the seventh and eighth centuries. A man of piety, he became famous for his many miracles and, “fearing the danger of human praise ” , he retreated into seclusion. during this time he was fed by a doe. one day, the men of the king of the western goths wanted to shoot the deer, but they wounded giles instead. in atonement, the king founded a monastery at giles ’ s request, and appointed the hermit as its first abbot. the benedictine abbey, later named after saint giles (saint-gillesdu-gard), became one of the most important pilgrimage sites of the Middle Ages. in the painting, the saint appears with the deer and, in a rare iconographic type, in abbatial vesture and insignia. the circumstances under which the painting was commissioned are not known. it was transferred with the esterházy collection to the national picture gallery, the predecessor to the Museum of fine Arts, as a work by federico barocci. the gentle effects of light and shade, the tender colour harmonies, and the elegance and directness of the picturesque yet compact figure are indeed all traits that are common to the style of both masters, but by analogy with a fresco of religious teachers made for the Monastery of saint John the evangelist in parma in 1523–1524, the work is now attributed to Michelangelo Anselmi.

nikolettA koruHely

literAture: tátrai in Summary Catalogue 1991, 1; fadda 2004, 162, cat. no. 4.

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Cornelis Cort (Hoorn, 1533 – rome, ca. 1578)

After girolAMo MuZiAno (brescia, 1532 – rome, 1592) The Vision of Saint Eustace

1574 engraving on paper, 529 × 391 mm purchased from the esterházy collection, 1871 inv. no. 32414 Museum of fine Arts, Collection of prints and drawings

in the second half of the sixteenth century, Antwerp was one of the most prosperous printmaking centres in europe, and publishers in the low Countries sought to serve the needs of collectors throughout the continent. naturally, the most sought-after prints were those reproducing famous works by the great italian masters. the Antwerp engraver Cornelis Cort therefore travelled to Venice in 1565 specifically to make engravings with titian. the success of the works led to further commissions, and Cort settled in rome, where he collaborated with the greatest painters of the time. girolamo Muziano originally trained as a landscape painter and became the most popular artist of the Counter-reformation. He specialised in religious paintings and murals, while working on the most important papal commissions. He was at the height of his career when he began publishing a series of six engravings of penitent saints. for this he teamed up with Cornelis Cort, the best engraver in italy. Although Muziano chose a religious theme, in keeping with the expectations of the time, the saints are merely tiny staffage figures in compositions that evoke the impenetrable wilderness of the germanic Alps.

ZoltÁn kÁrpÁti

literAture: London 2001, 92–96.

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lAJos berÁn (budapest, 1882 – budapest, 1943) The Budapest Antler Exhibition of the National Hunting Society

1928 gilded, embossed bronze, diameter: 58 mm signed on the recto, below: BERÁN on the verso, within a wreath of oak leaves: NEMZETI VADÁSZATI VÉDEGYLET [nAtionAl Hunting soCiety]; in the middle: AGANCS / KIÁLLITÁS / BUDAPEST [Antler / exHibition / budApest] purchased from the procopius collection, 1944 inv. no. 55.314-p Hungarian national gallery, Collection of sculptures, Coins and Medals

the national Hunting society operated for a period in parallel with the national Hungarian Hunters ’ Association, promoting regular, professional hunting and the protection of game. their annual antler exhibition was held in the Hungarian Museum of Agriculture in budapest between 1925 and 1944. it was during this period that the medallist and sculptor lajos berán was commissioned to make a commemorative medal, a copy of which is shown here, purchased from the collection of béla procopius, who was also vice-president of the Association of Coin enthusiasts and later of the numismatic society. the medal’ s allegorical representation of a stag with a radiant cross between its antlers is a reference to the legend of saint Hubert and the importance of hunting ethics. the artist added to the motif a background with pine trees, and it is therefore a perfect example of the harmonious composition and high-quality workmanship found in the oeuvre of lajos berán. the stag of the holy bishop was also used by the national Hungarian Hunters ’ Association on its coat of arms and on its emblem. berán studied with ede telcs, then at the Academy of fine Arts in Vienna, and later won a series of medal competitions, becoming the most sought-after medallist in Hungary between the two world wars. Among other things, he was responsible for elevating Hungarian sports medals to an artistic level, and he also performed major tasks as the master engraver of the Hungarian state Mint.

Adrienn prÁgAi

literAture: Huszár 1943, 80–82; procopius 1943, 47–49; gosztonyi 1982, 36–40.

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