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peak of his power," while the National Gallery illustrated the lasting impacts of
his cultural policies." The National Széchényi Library also published a new com¬
memorative album with high-guality photographs by photographer József Hapák,
with texts presenting the history of the library and the results of recent research."
At the same time, the Bavarian State Library also exhibited the eight corvinas
stored there."
Hungarian cultural diplomacy after 2010, following the economic policy of the
so-called “opening to the East”, has paid increasing attention to the Eastern roots
of Hungarians and to Hungary’s contribution to European culture and sciences.
In 2014, the National Széchényi Library presented a small chamber exhibition
of manuscripts from the Bibliotheca Corvina, which were presented to Emperor
Franz Joseph by Abdul-Aziz.
Nevertheless, book and art history research has developed enough to be able
to demonstrate the richness of the book culture of the period by emphasising the
pieces of the Buda copying workshop of the Matthias period.‘ "Ihe occasion was
the 460th anniversary of the accession of the great king to the throne.*”
‘This is where our story returns to the beginning, to the death of Matthias Hu¬
nyadi. The catalogue of this year’s 2018 exhibition was published under the title
“For the Adornment of the Country”. In Latin: “Bibliotheca pro decore Regni constructa”
exactly as it is written in the agreement in which the lords of the Hungarian King¬
dom informed Janos Corvin, illegitimate son of Matthias, that they would not
accept him as their king (4 July 1490). They demanded he return the books he had
taken from the library of Buda. ‘The leaders of the country at the time considered
the Bibliotheca Corvina, which had cost a lot of money, a sacrifice pro decore Regni’.
A financial sacrifice, but the source of our pride.
‘Those in power may have never thought otherwise. Personally, I can only hope
that for us, the late descendants of the 15th humanists the Bibliotheca Corvina rep¬
resents European Western Christian culture, as in every period of our history with
varying emphasis, characterised by Christianity as a way of thinking, a particular
way of relating to cultural heritage. An approach to all contemporary problems by
including the entire European cultural and academic heritage.
% FARBAKY-SPEKNER-SZENDE-VEGH, szerk., Hunyadi Matyds..., 2008., FARBAKY-SPEKNER-SZENDE¬
VEGH, eds., Matthas Corvinus, the King..., 2008. |
597 ~Mrx6-Ver6—Acs P., szerk., Matyds király. .., 2008.; Mixó-VERő-Ács P., szerk., Mátyás király. .., II.,
2008.
598 Mixó 2008.; Mixó 2008a.
59 FABIAN—ZSUPÁN, hrsg. Münchener Corvinen, 2008.
600 ZsuPAN-FOLDESI, ed., Budai miihely, 2018.
501 ZsuPAN, szerk., ,Az orszdg diszere”, 2020.
125