| Alkotó | |
|---|---|
| Kultúra | Austrian |
| Készítés ideje | 1782 |
| Tárgytípus | sculpture |
| Anyag, technika | tin |
| Méret | 44 × 27 × 26 cm |
| Szignó | Signed under the left shoulder of the bust: F . MESSER .SCHMIT |
| Leltári szám | 8336 |
| Gyűjtemény | Sculptures |
| Kiállítva | Museum of Fine Arts, Second Floor, European Sculpture 1350-1800, Gallery 3 |
George Martin Kovachich (1743−1821) was a wellknown Hungarian legal historian during the Enlightenment. He was also curator of the university library in Buda and the first collector of the documents of Hungarian legal history. On a visit to Bratislava, he commissioned the famous Austrian sculptor Messerschmidt to make a portrait of him. The portrait bust shows him wearing a contemporary wig and dressed in Hungarian noble attire, with a fur-trimmed coat and high-necked
undergarment with large buttons. The portrait is one of the most excellent neoclassical works from the period. Kovachich seems to have been delighted
with the work, as he sent expensive red wine and Spanish tobacco to the sculptor.
At the bottom of the bust, a long Latin text runs around, referring to Kovachich: SCHENKVICZ ME GENVIT. TIRNAVIA PINGVIS ALEBAT. BVDA TENET. VVLTUS ARS HABET ISTA MEOS. 1782. (Šenkvice [now Slovakia] created me. The fertile Trnava [now Slovakia] nourished me. Buda kept me. This artwork preserves my likeness.)
A second inscription, carved into the metal holder appears on the left side: PRAEVIDE ǀ ET ǀ PROVIDE (Be foresighted and cautious)
A third inscription appears on the right side of the metal holder: COGNOSCE ǀ ET ǀ DIGNOSCE (Recognize and differentiate)
Balogh, Jolán, Katalog der ausländischen Bildwerke des Museums der bildenden Künste in Budapest, IV – XVIII. Jahrhundert: 1. Textband Bd. 1, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1975, p. 255., no. 388., 442.
Szmodisné Eszláry, Éva, A Régi Szoborgyűjtemény kincsei, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1994, p. 72.
Szmodisné Eszláry, Éva, The treasures of the Old Sculpture collection, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1994, p. 72.
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