Room 8 / The expulsion of the Ottomans. Aristocratic and urban relics from the 17th century
The room welcomes visitors with displays of archaeological finds from the frontier fortresses. The paintings on the left are reminiscent of a 17th-century ancestral gallery, while the showcases below present jewellery and accessories from the aristocratic costumes depicted in the paintings. On the right side of the corridor, a selection of treasures of noble families and period furniture are displayed, alongside coins minted in Transylvania and Royal Hungary in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period of Hungary's liberation from Ottoman rule is illustrated by the weapons of the Christian alliance and the Ottoman-Turkish armies, as well as the tapestry near the exit.
Fun facts:
- The tools of the barber-surgeon were discovered in the frontier fortress of Bajcsa.
- In the 17th century not only pocket watches but also pocket sundials were used.
- The 100-ducat-coins of Prince Mihály Apafi are the largest Transylvanian gold coins.
- Abdurrahman, the last pasha of Buda, died a heroic death in the area of today's Hess András tér.
- The sabre of Polish king János Sobieski is a reminder of the Christian alliance that expelled the Ottomans from Hungary.
According to 16th-century art theory, portraiture did not occupy a prominent place in the rank of genres because it "only" depicted nature and reality instead of instructive episodes from history, the Bible and mythology. Yet, throughout Europe, it was the most popular, the most sought-after form of representation, because of the enormous interest in the great personalities and protagonists of important events. In Italy, it became customary to produce series of portraits of worldly figures (rulers, popes, famous people, writers, generals, etc.). The most representative version of the genre was popularised by Titian's work: the full-length, life-size portrait, which depicted the model standing, with characteristic features and accessories. In Hungary, too, a series of portraits showing the glorious ancestors of a family alongside the living members of the family (the so-called ancestral gallery) became popular. With the consolidation of noble identity and the growing political and social role of the nobility came the demand for individual families to "line up" their ancestors who had acquired nobility, increased wealth and held high office. The heyday of this type of painting was marked by the works of the German artist Benjamin Block in the middle of the century. The painter worked for a few years at the court of Ferenc Nádasdy and for the Batthyány family before moving to Vienna. The full-length portraits of Ferenc Nádasdy and his wife (1656) replace the spaceless compositions of earlier paintings with real interiors, a view into the landscape at the back, direct settings, decorative treatment (e.g. large crimson patches of paint, gold or silver ornaments) and still-life-like details.
Gold- and silversmith's works featuring shells, snails, and nautilus shells mounted in gilded silver were particularly popular in early modern Europe. Objects made of exotic materials almost always depict scenes and images related to water. This goblet, probably made in Transylvania, was decorated with scenes from the Old Testament story of Jonah by the goldsmith, whose only monogram (NK) is known. It belonged to the goldsmith's collection of the distinguished art collector Lipót Mór Herzog (1869–1934).
