Medieval History
A.D. MCCCLXXIII HOC OPUS IMAGINIS S. GEORGII PER MARTINUM ET GEORGIUM DE CLUSSENBERCH CONFLATUM EST
Finally, by clicking here, you will find a few more photographs of the statue on the Fine Arts in Hungary website.
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- Ancient Statue Reveals Prince Who Would Become Buddha
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Medieval History
Martin and Georg of Klausenburg
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| Martin and Georg of Klausenburg: St. George Prague, National Gallery |
I haven't had a lot of time to update my blog recently - but I thought I would post this for St. George's day. The image above depicts what may be the most beautiful statue made in the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Made by the brothers Martin and Georg of Klausenburg (Kolozsvár / Cluj) in 1373, the statue is the only surviving work from the production of their bronze workshop. Their other works - bronze statues of the Hungarian kings St. Stephen, Prince St. Emeric and St. Ladislas, as well as a large equestrian statue of St. Ladislas (all of these at Várad / Oradea) all got destroyed during the Ottoman wars, after the capture of Várad in 1660. The statue of St. George has been in Prague at least since the 16th century - but it is not known when and how exactly it got there. It is regarded as the first free-standing monumental bronze equestrian statue since antiquity. Information about its makers and the date was preserved on the now-lost shield (and is known from 18th century transcriptions):
Today, a copy of the statue is still standing in the third courtyard of Prague Castle, near the cathedral of St. Vitus. The original has been in the National Gallery in Prague since the 1960s.
A lot has been written on the statue in recent years, especially in a series of articles published in the Bohemian art history journal Umeni. See in particular the studies of Klara Benesovska and Ivo Hlobil from 2007, or the study of Ern? Marosi published in the 1999 volume of the journal. The connections of the bronze statue to the art of Trecento Italy (especially the Cathedral of Orvieto), the naturalism of some of its details, the historical context of the statue as well as its connections to other works by the brothers are all topics worthy of even further investigation.
- Thousand-year-old Buddhist Statue Was Created From A Meteorite, New Study Reveals
It sounds like an artifact from an Indiana Jones film; a 1,000 year-old ancient Buddhist statue which was first recovered by a Nazi expedition in 1938 has been analysed by scientists and has been found to be carved from a meteorite. The findings, published...
- 'capitoline Wolf' Could Be 1,700 Years Younger
A study has shown that the ?Capitoline Wolf,? a bronze statue representing Ancient Rome's most famous symbol, was probably sculpted during the Middle Ages, some 17 centuries later than what has long been thought, media reports said Saturday. Researchers...
- Ancient Statue Reveals Prince Who Would Become Buddha
In the ruins of a Buddhist monastery in Afghanistan, archaeologists have uncovered a stone statue that seems to depict the prince Siddhartha before he founded Buddhism. The stone statue, or stele, was discovered at the Mes Aynak site in a ruined...
- Rare Ancient Statue Depicts Topless Female Gladiator
A small bronze statue dating back nearly 2,000 years may be that of a female gladiator, a victorious one at that, suggests a new study. If confirmed the statue would represent only the second depiction of a woman gladiator known to exist. The gladiator...
- Long Lost Michelangelo Sculpture Found
A sandstone sculpture of a kneeling man sharpening a knife could be a long forgotten work by Michelangelo, according to an Italian scholar who has rediscovered the statue in a private collection. Measuring 111 centimeters (3.65 feet), the statue is now...