Spectacular Cycle of Medieval Frescoes uncovered at Visk

At a press conference on October 30th, 2019, the Teleki László Basis presented the early 15th-century fresco cycle uncovered in the Calvinist church at Visk (Vyshkovo, Ukraine). The wall paintings – which experienced been observed in 2001 and partly exposed in 2012 – were uncovered with the aid of the Rómer Flóris Strategy. This is a Hungarian federal government program launched in 2015 and aimed at defending things of Hungarian cultural heritage across the borders. The wall paintings of Visk ended up introduced to the press by Prof. Ernő Marosi, restorer József Lángi, and myself (Zsombor Jékely).

Visk is located in the Zakarpattia Oblast region of Ukraine – and spot which was component of the Kingdom of Hungary right up until 1918. The medieval church at Visk was built in the to start with 3rd of the 14th century and is a uncomplicated Gothic edifice with a rectangular nave and a polygonal sanctuary. The city by itself was a single of the five royal settlements in Máramaros county, an location known for its salt mines. Absolutely nothing remains now of the medieval castle when guarding the settlement. Considering that the mid-16th-century, the population of Visk had transformed to Calvinism, which led to the reconfiguration of the medieval church as very well. In 1717, the city was burned down through the last raid of the Crimean Tatars into Hungary. When the church was rebuilt, the medieval frescoes have been no for a longer time visible – they were being ultimately included by rich ornamental paintings executed in 1789.

Push conference with Ernő Marosi, József Lángi and Zsombor Jékely (picture: Magyar Kurír)

The medieval wall paintings of the church were being preserved in the sanctuary. Their existence had been regarded for some time, and their existence below later on levels of plaster was recognized in 2001. Various particulars had been uncovered by restorer József Lángi in 2012, which led to a prepare for their total recovery. As soon as the local community of the church was also persuaded of the importance of these frescoes, work could commence with the help of the Rómer Flóris Strategy. In September – October 2019, the complete surface area of the sanctuary wall has been cleaned and wall paintings have been uncovered on the northern and southern wall of the sanctuary, as very well as around the jap windows.

Passion cycle on the northern wall of the sanctuary

The ensemble recovered by József Lángi is fragmentary: a big Late Gothic window opened in the southern wall wrecked a substantial portion of the wall paintings. The vaults collapsed (most very likely in 1717) and were replaced by a flat ceiling – therefore a very vital element of the previous ensemble is lacking. A 19th-century gallery set up in the sanctuary for an organ brought about further more hurt. Inspite of all this, a remarkably full cycle of wall paintings has arrive to light-weight. The northern and southern wall of the sanctuary was adorned with a in-depth Christological cycle, narrating the tale of Christ from the Annunciation via the Passion all the way to the loss of life and Coronation of the Virgin Mary.

Massacre of the Innocents

The cycle was organized in four registers in a wrap-all around sample (so jogging left to ideal on the northern wall, continuing on the southern wall, then leaping back again to the northern wall and so on). A lot of of the scene survive relatively intact, together with monumental compositions of the Massacre of the Innocents and the Entry into Jerusalem, as perfectly as many episodes from the Passion of Christ. Though there is a great deal of problems to the cycle, and the fireplace of 1717 improved the coloring of the paintings, the electric power of the storytelling is however apparent to see these days. Extraordinary and expressive scenes – this sort of as the Arrest of Christ or the scene of Christ staying nailed to the cross – insert to the richness of the narrative. On the eastern walls, in the spaces amongst the home windows, a gallery of saints was painted in many rows. Most of them appear to be female martyr saints: Catherine, Barbara, and Margaret can be determined today.

The area of the wall paintings nonetheless demands to be cleaned and they require to be restored – a process which can hopefully be completed during the next two years. In the meantime, we can already set up that the fresco cycle was painted in the course of the second section of the reign of King Sigismund (1387-1437) – most very likely in the 1420s. No other is effective are identified by the identical workshop in the Higher Tisza Valley, so the discovery of these frescoes is a significant addition to our knowledge about medieval painting in north-eastern Hungary. Art historical analysis on the fresco cycle will start in the around foreseeable future, and ideally, initial results will be posted soon.

You can browse extra about the press meeting (in Hungarian) in this overview by Magyar Kurír. To master much more about the medieval churches of the region, have a glimpse at the web page of the Route of Medieval Churches. Images in the publish are by Attila Mudrák.