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Volume 34, Number 2, pages 117-153 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.26830/symmetry_2023_2_117
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SIMILARITY SYMMETRY IN THE ORNAMENTATION OF THE MÁTYÁS-TEMPLOM: THE IMPLICIT MUSICALITY OF FRIGYES SCHULEK’S NEO-GOTHIC PROJECT
Elena Rovenko
ACCRA (Laboratoire Approches Contemporaines de la Création et de la Réflexion Artistiques, UR 3402),Université de Strasbourg, MISHA - 5 rue du Général Rouvillois - 67083 Strasbourg Cedex, France
Email: rovenko@unistra.fr
ORCID: 0000-0002-4318-7106
Abstract: The destiny of the Mátyás-templom [Mathias Church] in Budapest is unique, since little has been preserved from the initial project. However, due to the fantasy and creative skills of the architect Frigyes Schulek, its neo-Gothic appearance became one of the major symbols of Budapest. The adoption and masterful actualisation of the medieval architectural ideas made this possible. They include: 1) the establishment of strict correlations between the external and internal spaces of the building in proportional-constructive and decorative aspects; 2) the treatment of the sculptural decoration of the church as a multi-component quasi-organic structure, arranged under the principle of self-similarity of at least ten different elements - “patterns”. Multiple application of the similarity symmetry endows Schulek’s project with immanent musicality. As regards the Gothic cathedral, it has already been studied by Wilhelm Worringer and Max Dvořák, which includes the Hungarian architect’s Neo-Gothic project into aesthetic and philosophical tradition of European thought. The article, therefore, considers the factors and manifestations of the Mátyás-templom’s musical qualities in their relationship to the 19th century neo-Gothic traditions of restoration.
Keywords: Frigyes Schulek, Mátyás-templom, neo-Gothic, musicality of architecture, similarity symmetry, eidos
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