Saint Thomas Aquinas

The painting depicts the Christ vision of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican theologian and scholastic Doctor of the Church who was canonised in 1323. The radiant sun on his habit identifies him as the “Doctor of Truth” — Doctor veritatis. According to legend, the Crucified Christ confirmed the truth of Thomas’s writings from the Cross with words of approval. Ferenc Szoldatits first studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, as a pupil of Joseph von Führich and Leopold Kupelwieser. From 1853 onward, he spent much of his creative life in Rome, where he joined the Nazarene circle of artists associated with Overbeck. Throughout his long life, he remained a representative of this religious style, which sought to renew art in the spirit of the Old Masters. This style won him the sympathy of many ecclesiastical patrons in Hungary. He was one of the favourite painters of Archbishop János Simor, who purchased several of his works and, while still Bishop of Győr, commissioned Szoldatits to paint his portrait. (Ildikó Kontsek, 2015)

Provenance

Collection of János Simor

Exhibitions

• 2015 Meisterwerke ... , Diözesanmuseum, St. Pölten

Bibliography

• Magyarország műemléki topográfiája I. Esztergom 1. Esztergom műemlékei.összeállította: Genthon István, Budapest, 1948., 59.
• Cséfalvay Pál: Simor János és a kortárs képzőművészet. Kiáll. kat. [Keresztény Múzeum, 2000. okt. 12 - 2001. ápr. 30.], Szerk. Kontsek Ildikó, Esztergom: Keresztény Múzeum, 2001, kat. 85.;
• Wolfgang Huber (szerk.): Meisterwerke aus dem Keresztény Múzeum; kiáll.kat; Sankt Pölten 2015, 162 (Kontsek Ildikó);