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Although the chief assets of the Christian Museum are Old Master German and Italian Paintings, the collection also possessed several major Netherlandish works from its foundation in 1875. The importance of this school was recognized both by the museum’s founder, Cardinal János Simor, and later by Bishop Arnold Ipolyi, whose collection forms the second largest section in the museum. Thus, the Esztergom Museum displays outstanding works like Hans Memling’s small-scale Man of Sorrows, (which was produced for private devotion and acquired by János Simor in Rome), The Mystic Marriage of Saint Agnes by a Northern Netherlandish Master (ca. 1510-30), the Temptation of St. Anthony by Jan Wellens de Cock, and the large figure Christ Carrying the Cross, a composition by Jan van Hemessen.
Dr. Emese Sarkadi Nagy, Art Historian (December 2023)