Péter Farbaky
The life of John Corvinus, reflected in his artistic representation, is divided in two by the death of his father, King Matthias. Until 1490, he was a central figure in Matthias’ display of power; only in the second phase of his life did he undertake patronage on his own account, of course, with much more modest means.
In 1473, Barbara Edelpöck, the lover of Matthias gave birth to a son who was christened after his Hunyadi grandfather John. In 1475, prior to the arrival of Beatrice of Aragon, Barbara was obliged to leave Hungary. After 1475, John was raised by his grandmother, Elisabeth Szilágyi, and after 1477, by the Humanist Taddeo Ugoleto of Parma.
We know that Matthias intended John to succeed him on the throne since 1481. In 1482 Matthias conferred on him the family’s prime residence, the castle of Vajdahunyad.
In 1487, John Filipec, counsellor signed in Milan the agreement for Prince John’s marriage to the daughter of the Duke, Bianca Maria Sforza. In the introduction to the ceremony, the court Humanist Gianfrancesco Marliani made an address in praise of Hungary and the two families entering into the marriage bond. The half-figure portrait of the then 14 year-old prince was probably made for his marriage.
In 1482, Matthias pronounced his son dux Lipthoviensis. Matthias started the building of the Liptó Franciscan friary at Okolicsnó, but the work continued in John’s name. Okolicsnó was paralleled by what is perhaps John Corvinus’ most important act of artistic patronage, the reconstruction of the Pauline friary in Lepoglava.
After 1490 the promise of the throne of Bosnia came to nothing, and John had to make do with the banate of Croatia and Slavonia, and his patronage was mainly confined to these territories. He presumably carried on building in his own castles and in his capacity as ban he reinforced the castles of the south-west border. One of John’s building projects is that of the Jasztrebarszka castle in Zágráb county. Gyula on the Great Hungarian Plane was another important family castle. Less is known of the Slavonian and Croatian castles he lived in – Bihać and Krapina.
The most outstanding product of John Corvinus’ patronage is the Pauline friary at Lepoglava. John Corvinus rebuilt the friary in 1491, and chose its church as his burial place. He donated also a Late Gothic monstrance to the friary was transferred to the treasury of Zagreb Cathedral, the Riznica, in 1495.
John inherited his father’s and grandfather’s military prowess, and exhibited it in his battles with the Turks. In October 1504, he clashed again with the Turks, but died of plague. The century-long history of the Hunyadi family came to an end with John Corvinus. His life after 1490 was above all constrained by the struggle against the Turks on the southern borders, for which he still occupies a fitting place in the historical memory, especially in Croatia.