A family treasury preserved
The fine arts collection of the Andrássy Mansion in Betlér
The Andrássy Mansion in Betlér (Betliar, Slovakia) is a rare example of an aristocratic mansion which remained almost untouched even after two world wars. The furnishings, furniture, paintings, the noted art collection and the library’s rarities can still be seen today, just as the Andrássys intended. The most valuable part of the collection is arguably represented by the paintings, some of which depict the family members, while others are works they collected. Among the former the most interesting is the ancestral gallery, which in arrangement and display reflects the state of the mansion after reconstruction between 1882 and 1886. A 19th-century photograph shows the ancestral gallery of the Andrássy Mansion in Parnó (today Parchovany, Slovakia), which suffered fire damage several times and was later ruined, from which we learn that many of the portraits now on display in Betlér were originally held in Parnó. Identifying those depicted in the portraits is not easy, and more than one is a 19th-century copy of a lost work or one moved elsewhere. Among the family portraits and other paintings there are several which have still not been identified or their genesis clarified. Research has shed light on only a few. The walls of the mansion’s stairway are decorated with huge paintings reflecting the taste of the end of the 19th century. Their themes and animated compositions were very fashionable at the time in Europe. Several members of the Andrássy family participated in the 1848-49 War of Independence. The Betlér mansion and the collection preserve that memory. The first-floor hall originally housed the picture gallery and after 1909 was the library established by LipótAndrássy in the 18th century. The paintings depict battle scenes of the War of Independence. Above the doors, besides decisive battles, there are also images of Görgey’s encampment in Komárom and the surrender at Világos. There is also one reflecting the cult of Sissy. It shows GyulaAndrássy with the queen during a hunting expedition. Numerous hunting pictures were painted, understandably since in the late 19th century the Betlér mansion changed from a place of permanent residence to one visited mainly in the hunting season. The room furnished as a hunting salon was formerly GézaAndrássy’s study. The furniture in the adjoining small room refers to this. The cabinets contain part of the weapons collection, while the walls hold trophies and pictures on hunting themes. In the library there are photo albums with many pictures taken in the last century. They are identifiable by place and time, thanks to accompanying notes, and represent a special surviving documentation about the family’s life.