Matthias Graduale

The most decorous volume of King Matthias’s library was this song book known as Matthias Graduale, probably made in the 1480s. While the other Corvinas were decorated only on the cover, the Graduale, apart from its beautiful cover illustration, also inside has 46 large and many smaller historiated initials. Bibliotheca Corviniana has been the symbol of Hungarian Humanist book culture for centuries. Contemporaneous authors praised its collection of rare Greek texts and basic works of Latin literature alongside the most important royal libraries. The painted illustrations and exquisite bindings fascinated even the bibliophiles of most refined taste. After the death of King Matthias, the majority of the codices were destroyed or taken abroad, however, the fame of the one-time richness and importance of the Corvina Library did not fade away. The approximately one hundred and eighty Corvinas currently scattered in European and American collections still remind us of the most widely known achievement of the Great Hungarian ruler of the 15^th century: the Bibliotheca Corviniana.

Our special album of 200 pages does not only present all the historiated initials of the Matthias Graduale, but also provides an interesting analysis of them in Zoltánné Soltész’s essay. József Hapák’s beautiful photographs make the contents of the rarely exhibited Corvina available to everyone. As a supplement, we add an audio CD with a unique musical recording made in the Pannonhalma Monastery, based upon the medieval song book.