Photograph: Tibor Mester,  © Tibor Mester


Name of Object:

Still life with Crabs, Pitcher, Glass, Loaf and Mouse

Location:

Budapest, Közép-Magyarország / Central Hungary, Hungary

Holding Museum:

Hungarian National Gallery

 About Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest

Date of Object:

c. 1730

Artist(s) / Craftsperson(s):

István Izbighy (Izbigi) Veres

Museum Inventory Number:

89.2 M

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

H: 42 cm; w: 53 cm

Provenance:

Swiss private collection

Type of object:

Painting (still life)

Period of activity:

Active in the first half of the 18th century at Kassa (Košice)

Description:

Izbighy Veres of Kassa (Košice) was one of the most accomplished painters of the period in Hungary. According to sources, he executed several commissions in Kassa (Košice), and a number of his still life paintings are in Slovakian and Hungarian collections today. Indications of the Hungarian origins of this painting are evident not only in the signature, but also in the blue-white lead-glazed jar; in addition, the loaf of bread is similar to that seen on a supraport painting by him in Koháry Castle at Szentantal (Antol). In another painting in the Xantus János Museum, Győr, Izbighy arranged a heap of crawfish on a plate in a similar way.
Up until the beginning of the 20th century, discussion of Izbighy Veres' still life paintings was primarily in terms of their symbolic meaning. In this particular painting, however, this is hardly a major consideration as, clearly, it is influenced by the 17th-century still life genre of Austria and south Italy and, considering its style and spirituality, is certainly related to three works of the Austrian “Burgher paintress” Anna Maria Punz (Österreichische Galerie, Vienna), though this one by Izbighy is of an earlier date.

View Short Description

The signed work of István Izbighy (Izbigi) Veres, a painter from Kassa (Košice) shows the influence of Austrian and south Italian still life painting, in particular the work of the “Burgher paintress” Anna Maria Punz. His other works may well have symbolic meaning but symbolism is a minor consideration when considering this particular painting.

How date and origin were established:

The painting is signed and the date established by stylistic analysis.

How Object was obtained:

Transferred in an exchange from a Swiss private collection to a private collection in Karinthia, Austria.

Selected bibliography:

Mojzer, M., (ed) “Cat. Nr. A. 44.” The Metamorphosis of Themes: Secular Subjects in the Art of the Baroque in Central Europe, exhibition catalogue, Budapest, 1993.

Citation of this web page:

Miklós  Mojzer "Still life with Crabs, Pitcher, Glass, Loaf and Mouse" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;BAR;hu;Mus11;8;en

Prepared by: Miklós Mojzer
Copyedited by: Terézia BardiTerézia Bardi

SURNAME: Bardi
NAME: Terézia Anna

AFFILIATION: National Trust of Monuments for Hungary

TITLE: Art Historian, Vice Director for Research at The National Trust of
Monuments for Hungary; MWNF DBA local co-ordinator (Hungary), author
and copy-editor

CV:
Terézia Bardi, Vice Director for Research at the National Trust of Monuments for Hungary since 2004, was awarded her MA in History and History of Art at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. After a period of fellowships mainly in Italy, Terézia gained her PhD from the Faculty of Art History at the same university for her thesis Presentation and Representation – the European Reception of the Liberation of Buda in 1686: Feast and Public Opinion. Her main fields of research are 17th-and18th-century Baroque and Rococo: the spectacles, festival decorations and associated iconography – including theatre productions of the period – and interior decoration of historic houses. Since 1988, she has edited a number of art historical books that include some on Oriental art and architecture. She is MWNF DBA’s local (Hungarian) co-ordinator, author and copy-editor.

Translation by: Etelka Rozgonyi
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: HU 08

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