Renaissance Inlay in Old Hungary [antikvár]

I This small volume is intended as an introduction to the history of Hungarian furniture in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries with special reference to the use of that singular decorative technique, inlay. Cabinet-making is not only a craft but also an art. As an art it is influenced by the prevailing trends of style; the most eminent masters of cabinet-making consciously exert themselves to produce beautiful pieces. As a craft the primary objective is to fulfil practical requirements. In the decoration of flat surfaces—hardly ever subject to practical considerations—there is every opportunity and encouragement to produce a work of art, and inlay provides one of the most suitable techniques for such a purpose. But before attempting to describe the early Hungarian examples of this enchanting art it is necessary to know something of the complicated technology of the basic craft, of which there are many developments and variations which have had a marked effect on the development of inlay. On the other hand, inlay-work is applied to flat surfaces only and is therefore restricted by nothing but the limits of its own technique. This freedom has resulted in achievements of great artistic merit during the two periods when the art was most highly developed, works of art which can be counted among the outstanding creations of Renaissance and Rococo art. Inlay-work in the Baroque, Rococo and Classicist periods reflects ideas and moods very different from those of the Renaissance and is, therefore, to be elaborated separately. In this volume we present only examples of Hungarian Renaissance inlay. This period is worthy of priority not only for chronological reasons but also because the Renaissance evolved from the late Gothic style, was the only period when Hungarian art was in the vanguard of the general European development. The earUest developments of inlay-work in modern times are closely connected with the spirit of innovation associated with the Renaissance. This was an age abounding in achievements, when men paid homage to the ideal of the uomo universale and could therefore welcome an art whose pursuance demanded equal proficiency in a number of different crafts.