Anna Ecsedy

Archbishop of Esztergom György Lippay's summer residence and garden in Pozsony (Bratislava) were represented on a series of engravings published in 1663. According to the dedication text on the title page, the series originally consisted of twenty sheets only four of which survive, along with two copies of the title page (see Appendix I. 1–5). The prints were made after the drawings by Johann Jacob Khün, the archbishop's court artist. Khün's mark is discernable on a recently recovered copy of the title page (a later imprint of the original plate). The engravings were executed by Mauritius Lang of Augsburg. Descriptions of the missing sheets are included in Notitia Hungariae Novae Geographico Historica by Mátyás Bél. The idea behind redecorating the garden and commissioning the engravings is conveyed by the motto on the title page: “Haec dicit Dominus Deus: Tu signaculum similitudinis, plenus sapientiâ et perfectus decore in delitiis paradisi Dei fuisti.” (Ez 28:12–19). T...

Archbishop of Esztergom György Lippay’s (1600–1666) summer residence and garden in Pozsony were represented on a series of engravings published in 1663. A hitherto unknown piece of this series features the eastern view of the residence (Bibliotheca Ecclesiae Metropolitanae Strigoniensis, Esztergom; fig.). The sheet bears the signature of Johann Jacob Khün, painter to the archbishop who supposedly produced the drawings for the entire series. According to various sources most of which were concluded by Klára Garas, Khün came from a family of over four generations of painters and sculptors originated in Besztercebánya. The present study attempts to uncover documents representing Khün’s family relations and personal connections in the milieu of the archbishop’s court at Pressburg. Only a few sources remain on Johann Jacob Khün’s work in archbishop Lippay’s service. Based on a few miscellaneous allusions and the painter’s recently recovered letter written to the archbishop’s physician an...