Page:A history of Hungarian literature.djvu/40

first place, he had been educated by eminent humanists, who taught the impressionable youth to admire the classical world; when he became king, the most influential men of his Court and amongst the clergy had nearly all studied in Italy and brought home the ideas of the new cult; and, furthermore, the direction taken by his tastes was largely influenced by his marriage, his Queen Beatrice having been brought up at the Court of Naples, where knowledge and art were enthusiastically beloved. Her grandfather, the noble Alfonso, was the best connoisseur of art of his time. Her father, though harsh and crafty by nature, was endowed with much artistic taste; he founded a scientific academy, and zealously collected books. It must be remembered, too, that in the middle of the fifteenth century, there was a constant intercourse between Hungary and Italy, for not only did merchants and pilgrims pass to and fro frequently, and in large numbers, but also scholars, students, and painters. Filippino Lippi, Verrocchio, and Caradosso could not accept the King's invitation to his Court, but their works were well represented there. The artist who worked for Matthias the most, and who spent the longest time at his Court, was Giovanni Dalmata. All his works in Hungary were destroyed by the Turks, but it is well-known that he executed a great number for the King, who conferred upon him a title equivalent to knighthood. On the death of the King he left Hungary. He was one of the most refined sculptors of the Renaissance, and possessed something of the graceful Attic spirit, which is only to be observed elsewhere in works of the early Florentine Renaissance. His works represented historical Hungarian personages, such as John Hunyadi and his son Ladislas (then