Late Renaissance locker in Veszprém
Dating helped by heraldry
MúzeumCafé 6.
I noticed the small carved box by chance when I was reviewing the numismatic collection. It was bestowed to the Veszprém County (today Laczkó Dezső) Museum by the widow of Ede Kosztorszky of the town of Veszprém, though I have not managed to find any further information about her. When he listed the item in the inventory on 14 February 1905, Dezső Laczkó – a Piarist monk, teacher, grammar school head, prior and the founder of the museum – was not concerned about its dating. He simply recorded: “wooden locker decorated with carved coats of arms”. When it was re-recorded in the inventory of the museum’s art and crafts collection in 1966 (inv. no. 66.326.1-2) it was dated to the second half of the 19th century. On first inspection it was obvious that the box originated from the German Renaissance of the 16th-17th centuries. Precise dating was ascertained later, primarily with the help of the coats of arms of the empress and the ecclesiastic prince-electors. The arms of the empress has that of the Gonzaga Dynasty (Mantua) on the shield. The coats of arms of the ecclesiastic electors were made up of those of the archiepiscopal see and the family coat of arms of the prelate in o≠ice. Thus the coats of arms could be connected to persons and we were able to date rather precisely when the locker was made. Maximilian I Prince of Bavaria became an elector on 25 February 1623. Trier elector Lothar von Metternich died on 7 September 1623. The art object in question must have been made sometime during the months between these two dates.