A lőcsei Szent János-oltár szárnyas angyalfej-sorozatának előzményeiről

Abstract

Abstract On the architrave of the altar shrine of the Saints John altarpiece in the St James church in Lőcse (Levoca) there are angel heads; the paper is trying to find their source. The motif was most frequently used in the Quattrocento. The most effective disseminator of the fashion of nude and often wingless youngster and children was Donatello in Italy. Angels without distinct functions had the role to indicate heaven which is why they are usually on the upper part of the altarpiece and later of the tabernacle. When they appear in sepulchral monuments, they refer to the hoped-for celestial dwelling of the deceased. A variant, or abridgment as it were, of the infant angel, the winged angel head already appeared in the 14th century. The popularizer of children angels Donatello also created winged angel heads which spread wide in Italy after his works. The motif arrived in Hungary from Florence. One of its first specimens was probably the white marble tabernacle, an import from Florence, in the chapel of...