Title
The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple
Budapest Master [attributed to] (Active in Burgos between 1475-1495)
Generic classification
PaintingObject
PaintingDate
ca. 1465-1470Century
Third quarter of the 15th c.Cultural context / style
International GothicMaterial
WoodIconography / Theme
Presentación de la Virgen en el TemploProvenance
Possible origin from Castile and Leon (Castilla y León, Possible origin from Castile and Leon, Spain)Current location
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest (Budapest, Hungary)Inventory Number in Current Collection
3962Object history
This painting has had several attributions, however, the one that seems most accurate to us is that of Post (1933). This author, in History of Spanish Painting, proposed the Master of Budapest as the author of the panel, a hypothesis that Silva Maroto (1990) seconded. There is no documentation that allows us to affirm this authorship, however, there is no doubt that the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple of the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest is reminiscent of other works attributed to the artist. The Master of Budapest was active in Castile, mainly in the present province of Burgos between 1470-1495, so it is likely that the panel came from there. We do not know when it left Spain, although it must have been in the 1920s, since we know that it was bought by the Hungarian painter József Ede Balló, who lived for a time in Madrid (Garas, Genthon and Takács, 1966). However, we do not know if after Balló's death the Hungarian State acquired the piece or if it passed through different hands before it first found its way to the Hungarian National Gallery and then to the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest.
Description
In the foreground appear St. Joachim and St. Anne, parents of the Virgin, accompanying their daughter, who is in the center of the composition under an architecture with classical overtones that approaches the Renaissance. The staircase leading to the temple suggests a treatment of perspective halfway between medieval and early modern times. The elongated canon of the figures stands out, as is typical of the Master of Budapest (Silva Maroto, 1990).
Locations
ca. 1465 - ca. 1925
ca. 1925 - ca. 1936
private collection
József Ede Balló, Budapest (Hungary) *
Second quarter of the XXth c. - Second half of the XXth c.
Second half of the XXth c. - present
Bibliography
- GARAS, Klára, GENTHON, István y HARASZTI-TAKÁCS, Marianna (1966): Museo de Bellas Artes de Budapest, Aguilar, Madrid, pp. 181-182.
- POST, Chandler Rathfon (1933): A History of Spanish Painting, vol. 4 (The Hispano-Flemish Style in North-Western Spain), nº 1, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts), pp. 318-323.
- SILVA MAROTO, María Pilar (1990): Pintura hispanoflamenca castellana: Burgos y Palencia. Obras en tabla y sarga, vol. I, Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid.
Record manager
Isabel Escalera FernándezCitation:
Isabel Escalera Fernández, "The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple" in Nostra et Mundi. Cultural Heritage from Castile and Leon around the world, Fundación Castilla y León, 2025. https://inventario.nostraetmundi.com/en/work/53
The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
