The Sacred ARt exhibition in the SNG. (source: Courtesy of SNG )
The late-Gothic relief depicting the birth of Christ is one highlight of the long-term collection display Sacral Art in the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) in Bratislava. It was long known just as the Nativity from Hlohovec. But its high quality challenged the assumption that the local castle chapel was truly the place for which a mediaeval master had carved it. Finally, just some 30 years ago, researchers refuted all doubts. A depiction of a coronation in the St Martin Cathedral dating back to 1608 shows exactly this relief from the 15th century in the middle of the altar.
“This is evidence that this relief was part of the dismantled Gothic altar,” said Dušan Buran, who in cooperation with Katarína Kolbiarz Chmelinová, composed the Sacred Art exhibition, which SNG opened in its refurbished premises last week.
The story of the relief, whch Buran considers to be one of the most spectacular works of art in Bratislava, along with the cathedral itself, illustrates the common fates of art works.
The relief from 1480-1490 was the central piece of the Gothic altar in St Martin Cathedral (source: Courtesy of SNG )
The relief from 1480-1490 was the central piece of the Gothic altar in the cathedral. In the 1730s this altar was dismantled and replaced by a Baroque altar created by sculptor George Rafael Donner. This altar, which witnessed, for example, coronation of Maria Theresa, does not exist anymore, too. It was also dismantled. The equestrian sculpture of St Martin, which used to be its central piece, remained in Bratislava and now can be seen in the right-side nave of the cathedral. Two angels, which used to flank the altar, are now in Budapest. The Baroque altar was replaced, during the complex regothisation of the cathedral in the second half of the 19th century, with a neo-Gothic altar. It is here until today.
