Bakócz Chapel, Esztergom

Tamás Bakócz used to belong to the more intimate circle of King Matthias. After the death of Matthias, he became the Lord Chancellor of Wladislas II. Following the example of Matthias, he also sponsored art. Major buildings were started when he was the Archbishop of Esztergom.

The Chapel was built in the honour of Maria Annunziata (Blessed Virgin Mary) at the southern side of the Cathedral in Esztergom. It has a Greek cross plan with niches in axes. Side walls in the middle are divided into three zones. Red marble carvings, proportions of Vitruvius and Renaissance space are all intended to express cardinalship. The white marble altar by Andrea Ferrucci rises above the red marble background (1519). Unfortunately, the altar was partly damaged and is not in its original place (edges followed shoulder ridges of niches).
The altar has in fact the shape of a treble triumphal arch. The attic with semicircles lent a cinquecento appearance to the altar. The relief Ave Maria and the four apostles with a blind arcade frame reflect the influence of Michelangelo. The space above (Ave Maria and two angels) belongs to Heaven with the apostles below, who preached the gospel, and the space at the bottom shows the world redeemed, two saints and the powerful sponsor in a small kneeling figure. In the niche in the middle, there used to stand a Madonna statue as the name suggests. Figures of saints, probably female ones, in the niches on the side were destroyed during the Turkish occupation in 1543.