Karoly Telepy - The Ruins of Diosgyor Castle, Review and Painting Scan

Having completed his studies at the academies of Munich and Venice, Telepy spent a fairly long period in Italy. He returned to Hungary in 1859 and showed this picture in the 1860 Exhibition of the Art Society. The view selected and the composition bear witness to the desire for a certain theatrical effect and a faithful adherence to Marko's principles. The ideal landscape has been replaced by the representation of actual localities. A wide and open foreground encircles the Castle in the distance; by choosing this solution the painter in fact gave an exact "description" of the surroundings. Although he attached importance to fidelity to the topography of the place, he was evidently concerned to offer an effective interpretation as well, witness the broken reflection of the clouds on the surface of the lake that used to surround the Castle a hundred years ago. A group of women in the costume of the region, washing clothes, are placed by the water in the foreground, with a view to enlivening the landscape and providing perspective and depth.