Art Treasures in the Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences [antikvár]

LECTURIS SALUTEM'Ars Ionga, vita brevis,' runs the Latin proverb; in other words, life is short, but art is forever. It is characteristic of works of art that they not only radiate the life-view of die age in which they are born, but that they are also, perhaps, the sole creditable conveyors of history. All diis they do forever, as long as museums, collections and caring hands protect them from destruction.Within the pages of this volume, the leadership of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences lays before the public its treasures, including valuable pieces as yet unknown outside its walls.The first and most important donor to the Academy's collection of fine art was Count István Széchenyi himself, who in 1825, at the Diet convened in Pozsony (today's Bratislava), announced that, 'if an institution is set up that develops the Hungarian language, and by so doing helps to highlight our people as Hungarians, then I shall donate to it a year's income from my estates'. He added: 'Having considered well the long-term purpose of the proposed institution, namely the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, I desire that this institution come into being, and at the same time that it accord with this (aforementioned) purpose.' Széchenyi thereby founded the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He also donated a painting by Johann Ender, a work (cat. 56) which, since that time, has come to be seen as an allegory of the Academy itself. Boldizsár Elischer's Goethe Collection, the unique Kaufmann Bequest with its hugely valuable Jewish cultural treasures, the antiquities presented by József Teleki, and the Milán Füst Bequest, - these are just a representative few of the elements in the Academy's now-famous collection.A precursor of the Art Collection of the Academy was the Pál Esterházy Collection, housed - following its purchase by the Hungarian state - in the Academy building, which opened in 1865. As early as 1871, legislation made it possible for the National Picture Gallery to operate in the building of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 1906, this renowned collection was transferred to die newly established Museum of Fine Arts. To replace it, the Hungarian Historical Picture Gallery came to theI