346. Budavár ostroma 1849 Majus 21-ke

Beautiful, monumental view of the siege of Buda Castle from the west, coloured lithograph with title added by hand.
The original painting is by Károly Klette, a Dresden-born artist who at the time received several commissions from Archduke Stephen, though he sympathised with the Hungarians – one of his sons served in Bem’s Transylvanian army. This ambivalence is also apparent in the work: the siege is depicted with the detachment of classicism, integrated into the immobile landscape. Instead of the drama of the decisive assault, the work radiates calm.
As art historian Péter Köblös observes on the website of the Budapest Art Gallery: “Klette documents for posterity the then-undeveloped area of Krisztinaváros (today’s Roham Street) with attacking infantry, and in the foreground the idyllic stone bridge spanning the still-uncovered Ördög-árok (today’s Mikó Street), crossed by pedestrians and mounted hussars. The timing is indicated by a detail: the Austrian flag still flies above the Fehérvár bastion, meaning the victorious breakthrough at five in the morning has not yet occurred. While the painter conveys the psychological tension of the battle and its uncertain outcome indirectly, he simultaneously identifies with Hungarian patriotism by presenting the entire event from the perspective of the Hungarian attackers.”
A woodcut after this composition was published as early as 1861 in Honvédek könyve, edited by Imre Vahot and Flóris Gánóczy. This lithograph was issued later, presumably after the Compromise. Though often reproduced in books, it is rarely encountered in the market, usually uncoloured.
Dimensions: 555 × 730 (620 × 760) mm. Framed.
 
Starting price: 500 000,-