Hungarian National Gallery director Loránd Bereczky said the pair of portraits were discovered in a gallery in the north of Italy and purchased with support from the Ministry of Education and Culture. The museum will highlight the paintings in a mini exhibition, he added.
The pair of portraits will be put on display on the first storey of the museum's A building between February 10 and March 15. Afterward, they will undergo restoration.
Hungary's Renaissance Year 2008 saw the reconstruction of the study of János Vitéz, the "star of Pannonia", who introduced Italian Humanism to Hungary's "Renaissance king" Matthias Corvinus, in the city of Esztergom, as well as the establishment of the Hungarian Digital Image Archive, said Hiller. Some 45,000 underprivileged students were given the chance to take "Renaissance tours", and many public spaces were renovated, he added.
The thousand events held during Renaissance Year 2008 drew more than three million people, said Minister of Education and Culture state secretary Ferenc Csák. The programme, which cost some HUF 4 billion, included 34 exhibitions, 29 theatre productions, 30 conferences and 95 festivals.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
