18th-Century Italian Drawings in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts

Fülszöveg

The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest was established on the occasion of Hungary's millennial celebration in 1896, to house Hungarian and European works of art; it opened its gates to the public in 1906. The Collection of Prints and Drawings consists of around 100,000 items, of which the number of drawings is approximately 9000. The collection of old master drawings contains works by almost all the major artists and schools of European art, the Italian school being one of the most comprehensive and most valuable of all, numbering about 1200 sheets. The collection of 18th-centuty Italian drawings has the depth and breadth to offer a comprehensive picture of draughtsmanship in 18th-century Italy; it illustrates the development of artistic trends from the late classical baroque through the rococo to neo-classicism, and demonstrates the typical subjects of the period, whilst also shedding light on relationships and influences. Furthermore, it testifies to the increasingly important role... Tovább

Fülszöveg

The Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest was established on the occasion of Hungary's millennial celebration in 1896, to house Hungarian and European works of art; it opened its gates to the public in 1906. The Collection of Prints and Drawings consists of around 100,000 items, of which the number of drawings is approximately 9000. The collection of old master drawings contains works by almost all the major artists and schools of European art, the Italian school being one of the most comprehensive and most valuable of all, numbering about 1200 sheets. The collection of 18th-centuty Italian drawings has the depth and breadth to offer a comprehensive picture of draughtsmanship in 18th-century Italy; it illustrates the development of artistic trends from the late classical baroque through the rococo to neo-classicism, and demonstrates the typical subjects of the period, whilst also shedding light on relationships and influences. Furthermore, it testifies to the increasingly important role played by Italian artists in the internationally connected art world, which included teaching and advising on art collecting; growing numbers of artists were invited to foreign royal or princely courts and academies.
Almost forty percent of the 356 18th-century Italian drawings originate from the collection of Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy (Vienna 1765-Como 1833), preserved in Vienna until the middle of the 19th century and purchased by the Hungarian state from the family in 1870, thus founding the museum's collection of old master paintings and drawings alike. The second largest group, comprising nearly one third of the 18th-century Italian drawings, entered the Museum in 1901 from the bequest of Stephan Delhaes (Pest 1843-1901 Vienna), a painter and restorer active in Vienna. This core was completed by new acquisitions for the national art collection, made at the initiative of its curators and directors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Later purchases added further 18th-century Italian drawings to the collection, augmented by sheets from bequests and donations.
The majority of the drawings belong to the two most important regional art centres in 18th-century Italy, the Venetian and Roman schools. More than 50 works derive from Bologna-Emilia. All this is completed by smaller groups of Neapolitan, Northern Italian and Florentine-Tuscan drawings. A speciality of the collection is that it comprises large ensembles by one and the same artist, like the Venetians Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo and their followers, as well as Gaspare Diziani, and Pietro Antonio and Francesco Novell!. Likewise abundant and interesting is the material by the Romans Agostino Masucci, Giuseppe Cades, and Filippo Giuntotardi. The Eolognese part of the collection contains a charming group by Donato Creti and works by the Bibiena family, noted for their stage designs. The gouache townscapes by the late 18th-century Neapolitan Alessandro D'Anna constitute the most

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