Standard Grants Programme
visegradfund.org


Submitted by the
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
www.mfab.hu


Applicant:
Szépművészeti Múzeum
Museum of Fine Arts
Statuatory representative: 
Dr. László Baán, General director
Coordinator of the Project:
Dr. Árpád M. Nagy
amnagy@szepmuveszeti.hu
  +36 1 469 71 00

 

Project partners:

Partner No. 1.
Trnavská univerzita v Trnave
Trnava University in Trnava
www.truni.sk
Statuatory representative: doc. ThDr. Andrej Filipek rector
+421 33 593 92 03
akrupova@truni.sk
Prof. Klara Kuzmová, Miroslava Danova

Partner No. 2.
Masarykova Univerzita
Masaryk University
www.muni.cz
Statuatory representative: prof. PhDr. Petr Fiala
+420 549 49 1111
rektor@muni.cz
Prof. Daniela Urbanova

Partner No. 3.
Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie
The National Museum in Warsaw
www.mnw.art.pl
Statuatory representative: Dr. Agnieszka Morawińska, Director
Katarzyna Dziechiarz, Vicedirector for Economy and Finance
+48 22 621 10 31
biuro@mnw.art.pl
Dr. Alfred Twardeczki 

Our project focuses on the study of engraved precious stones ('magical gems') in museums of the Visegrad countries.
Aims of the project: 
1: to COLLECT, PHOTOGRAPH, DESCRIBE all the magical gems kept in Central European museums and include them into an INTERNATIONAL DATABASE.
2: a CO-ORDINATED, INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH on magical gems
3: to establish a NEW SCIENTIFIC STANDARD for experts working on this topic
4: a WORKSHOP that would discuss the results and further prospective life of the project.

Engraved precious stones (so-called 'magical gems') were commonly used as talismans under the Roman Empire, and are preserved in many private and public collections worldwide. The Visegrad region is of sepcial interest for the study of magical gems as it lies just outside the frontiers of the Roman Empire. Most interesting are the pieces found in these countries themselves and such a research can greatly contribute to the mainstream international scholarship on ancient magic, knowledge transfer and to the transmission of ideas and techniques. 

The formation of private collections in the Visegrad countries merits a separate branch of research - they greatly add and reflect the study of cultural history related to the Visegrad countries.
These pieces are often hard to access for international research (language barries, sometimes inaccessible publications). Through the project they would get into the mainstream academic research, into a database that aims to cover all the magical gems kept in museums and private collections.