Prophet Daniel

The Prophet Daniel stands frontally, his head turned slightly to the right, while his tense, attentive gaze is directed to the left. Beneath the straight nose, the closed, narrow lips are framed by a sparse moustache and beard, and the face by wavy brown hair. Above his forehead is a five-pointed white diadem. The halo is decorated with adjoining circles. Over a yellow garment with an arched neckline, he wears a red mantle fastened by a round clasp at the chest. Broad gold embroidery runs along the borders of the mantle, which opens at the front, and along the edge of the sleeve. In his left hand the prophet holds a scroll on which his name can be read. His right arm is held before his body, and with his elongated index finger he points downwards to the right; this gesture was presumably directed towards the central panel of the former altarpiece. Scholarship regards the painting as the pendant of the work depicting Moses (inv. no. 55.142). It has therefore been associated first with Minò da Siena, then with the Lorenzetti circle, and finally with works by Ugolino da Siena, Ugolino Lorenzetti, and the Maestro d’Ovile. The oeuvre of the Maestro d’Ovile, who belonged to the third generation of Sienese Trecento painting, was reconstructed by András Péter. His works were also strongly influenced by the sensitive painterly manner of Simone Martini, although in the depiction of Moses the impact of Duccio’s workshop is still more pronounced. It is likely that the two panels belonged to the gable section of the same altarpiece. (Prokopp Mária, 1993)

Provenance

Arnold Ipolyi’s purchase from the Ramboux estate in Cologne, 1867

Restauration

1985

Bibliography

• Cséfalvay Pál, szerk.: Keresztény Múzeum, Esztergom. Budapest, 1993. 216-217. kat. sz. 74. (Prokopp Mária)
• Mucsi András: Az esztergomi Keresztény Múzeum Régi Képtárának katalógusa. Budapest, 1975, 34 -35 . "Ugolino Lorenzetti"
• Boskovits Miklós: Korai olasz táblaképek, Budapest, 1966. 34-35.
• Boskovits Miklós-Mojzer Miklós-Mucsi András: Az esztergomi Keresztény Múzeum képtára. Budapest, 1964, 40-42.
• G. Coor (1956)
• Magyarország műemléki topográfiája I. Esztergom műemlékei, összeállította: Genthon István. Budapest, 1948. "Ambrogio Lorenzetti?"
• G. Delogu,1936 "Ugolino da Siena"
• Berti Toesca, Elena: Arte italiana a Strigonia. Dedalo, XII, 1932, 933–960."Ugolino da Siena"
• Péter András (1931) "a sienai S. Pietro d' Ovile oltárképének mestere"
• Gerevich (1928) "Lorenzetti-kör"
• Ipolyi (1871) "Mino da Siena"
• J. A . Ramboux gyűjteményéből katalógusa, 1867 "Mino da Siena"