Most of the items held by the Library and Art Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) are familiar to everyone from secondary-school literature and history textbooks, but from 5 November, for one year, they can be seen in the original at the MTA headquarters on Széchenyi István tér in Budapest.
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the MTA, the exhibition presents national treasures, manuscripts, works of fine art and artefacts held by the MTA Library and Information Centre and the MTA Art Collection.
Among other things, the exhibition features the original manuscript of the Szózat (Appeal) on Vörösmarty Mihály’s writing desk, his own chess set, the Kapcsos könyv (Clasped Book) of Arany János, the Academy’s secretary-general (secretary), relics of Petőfi Sándor, the original manuscript of Madách Imre’s The Tragedy of Man (Az ember tragédiája) with notes by Arany János, manuscripts by Radnóti Miklós, and the manuscript of Ady Endre’s poem Elbocsátó szép üzenet (A Beautiful Letter of Dismissal).
In the third-floor halls of the Academy’s palace, portraits of the institution’s most distinguished members can be seen, including Széchenyi István, Kazinczy Ferenc, Kölcsey Ferenc, Vörösmarty Mihály, Deák Ferenc, Eötvös József, Arany János and other leading figures of the Academy.
In her speech opening the exhibition, Erdei Anna, deputy secretary-general of the MTA, recalled that until the Museum of Fine Arts was built, the Academy housed the Esterházy picture gallery, purchased by the Hungarian state in 1871 – Hungary’s first picture gallery open to the public.
This collection later formed the basis of the National Picture Gallery and then of the Museum of Fine Arts, and now, more than a century and a half later, following the reconstruction of the third-floor suite of halls, the picture gallery – the permanent exhibition of the Art Collection of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences – is once again opening to the public.
The exhibition can be visited free of charge until 13 December 2026, subject to registration, by individual visitors and groups alike.
Source: MTI