Fragment of an Altar

The fragment of an altar from the 1490s was uncovered from the outer wall of the Pauline church in Di�sgy�r (Hungary). According to the evidence of the bishop’s coat of arms, the person commissioning the altar was most likely the Bishop of Csan�d, Johannes de Zokol, who retired to the Pauline monastery of Di�sgy�r in 1493 to live the rest of his life there as a monk. Sometime around 1486 or 1487 the sculptor Giovanni Dalmata, a celebrated artist who had worked in Rome and in Trau (Trogir), arrived at Buda, where the construction of King Matthias’s Renaissance place was under way at the time. Dalmata’s style can be recognized on a number of fragmented stoneworks of the Royal Place of Buda. King Matthias bestowed upon his favourite sculptor awards and property, and it seems very likely that he also commissioned the artist to fashion his tomb. In spite of its fragmented condition, the relief shows the stylistic marks of Dalmata’s best Italian works, providing ample proof of the high standard of Renaissance sculpting in the age of King Matthias.