The pieces Ecce Homo! (1896) and Golgotha (1884) were joined by Christ before Pilate (1881), which is owned and had been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in Ontario since 2007.
Lajos Kosa said the trilogy will be exhibited jointly for certain by 2012.
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The large-sized painting was lifted into the museum through the dome by enormous cranes.
Ecce Homo is owned by the Deri Museum, Golgotha is in the ownership of Hungarian-born US collector Imre Pakh but is on permanent loan to the museum. Christ before Pilate, part of Canada's cultural heritage, cannot be sold until 2012 and Canadian laws will grant Canadanian collections a pre-emptive right to buy the painting in 2012 before it will be offered to anyone else.
"Debrecen will do all in its power to keep the complete trilogy in the city permanently," Kosa said, adding that the city will bid for the third piece in the trilogy, which costs 50,000 Canadian dollars a year - a cost to be shared equally by the city and the local county council.
The paintings will be unveiled for the public on August 19.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI) Photo: / MTI
