János Hajnal

Last updated April 13, 2019

János “Giovanni” Hajnal (Budapest, 27 August 1913 – Rome, 9 October 2010) was a Hungarian naturalized Italian artist and illustrator, he is considered one of the major contemporary creator of glass walls and mosaics.

Budapest is the capital and the most populous city of Hungary, and the tenth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits. The city had an estimated population of 1,752,704 in 2016 distributed over a land area of about 525 square kilometres. Budapest is both a city and county, and forms the centre of the Budapest metropolitan area, which has an area of 7,626 square kilometres and a population of 3,303,786, comprising 33 percent of the population of Hungary.

Rome is the capital city and a special comune of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region. With 2,872,800 residents in 1,285 km² (496.1 sq mi), it is also the country's most populated comune. It is the fourth most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the centre of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4,355,725 residents, thus making it the most populous metropolitan city in Italy. Rome is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio (Latium), along the shores of the Tiber. The Vatican City is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.

Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres (35,920 sq mi) in the Carpathian Basin, it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world, and among the few non-Indo-European languages to be widely spoken in Europe. Hungary's capital and largest city is Budapest; other major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr.

Frankfurt is a metropolis and the largest city of the German federal state of Hesse, and its 746,878 (2017) inhabitants make it the fifth-largest city of Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, and Cologne. On the River Main, it forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring city of Offenbach am Main, and its urban area has a population of 2.3 million. The city is at the centre of the larger Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.5 million and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr Region. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the geographic centre of the EU is about 40 km (25 mi) to the east of Frankfurt's central business district. Like France and Franconia, the city is named after the Franks. Frankfurt is the largest city in the Rhine Franconian dialect area.

Stockholm Capital city in Södermanland and Uppland, Sweden

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the most populous urban area in the Nordic countries; 962,154 people live in the municipality, approximately 1.5 million in the urban area, and 2.3 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Just outside the city and along the coast is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the capital of Stockholm County.

Hajnal visited Italy for the first time in 1931 when he walked from Budapest to Florence in order to admire Italian art.[1] He relocated permanently in Rome in 1948 at the age of 35.

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with 383,084 inhabitants in 2013, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.

In Italy his artistic career was mainly based on glass walls and mosaics. He was granted Italian citizenship in 1958 due to his artistic merits. In 1992 the Hungarian President granted Hajnal the Cross for Civil Merits, the highest Hungarian award for in the art field. The Council of Art Academy of Budapest unanimously nominated him Magister Rerum Artium Honoris Causa. In 2002 the Italian president Azeglio Ciampi awarded him the Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana (a high honour award). Hajnal died in Rome on October 9, 2010.[2]

Works

Glass walls in the Milan Cathedral

Hajnal's collaboration with the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano dated back to 1953 when he won the bid to create three glass walls of 35 square meters for the façade of the cathedral. These glass walls were launched in 1955 and represent The Church (5.75m high), The Trinity (9.5m) and The Synagogue (5.75m). In 1988 he realised a wide glass wall (25 square meters and 18m high) called La Vetrata dei Cardinali (The Glass Wall of the Cardinals), launched in 1989. This is situated in the external right nave and represents the cardinals Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster and Andrea Carlo Ferrari. This work completed the series of glass walls for the cathedral which were started in the 15th century.

Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano organization in Milan

The Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano is a 600-year-old organization that was established to supervise the construction of the Cathedral of Milan. The organization is still active and involved with the maintenance, preservation, and restoration of the cathedral. Its main headquarters are located in the eponymous palace in Piazza del Duomo. Despite the Duomo being a consecrated Roman Catholic church, the Venerable Factory is completely independent of the Holy See.

Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan and Cardinal of the Catholic Church, beatified in 1996.

Blessed Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster - born Alfredo Ludovico Schuster - was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Benedictines who served as the Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his death. He became known as Ildefonso as a Benedictine monk and served as an abbot prior to his elevation to the cardinalate.

Andrea Carlo Ferrari Italian Catholic cardinal

Blessed Andrea Ferrari - later adopting the middle name "Carlo" - was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served as a cardinal and as the Archbishop of Milan from 1894 until his death. Ferrari was a well-regarded pastor and theologian who led two dioceses before being appointed to the prestigious Milanese archdiocese which he led until his death. But he was later accused of Modernism which led to a strained relationship with Pope Pius X who later reconciled with Ferrari in 1912.

Glass walls in the Aula Paolo VI

Hajnal created two wide glass walls for the Aula Paolo VI, an auditorium in the Vatican which was opened in 1971. The two glass walls measure 180 square meters.

Other glass walls

Hajnal's works can also be admired in Rome in the churches of San Leone Magno, Santa Maria Goretti, Sant’Angela Merici and San Pietro Nolasco; also in the Collegio Scozzese, in the Canadian National Church, in the basilica of Santa Francesca Romana, in the new Rebibbia penitentiary, in the National Swedish Church, in the convent of Santa Brigida and in the institute of the Ursoline nuns. Among his major recent works in Rome is the rose window in the façade of the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (4.5m diameter), completed in 1995[2] . Hajnal completed glass walls in many other Italian locations: Velletri, Vetralla, Prato, Gaeta, Teramo, Frosinone, Avezzano, Carpinello Casciano (Naples), Milano, Catania, Udine, Castagno d’Elsa (Tuscany), Bari, Sorrento, Lavello (Potenza), Chieti, L’Aquila, Farfa, Formia, Tarquinia, Carsoli, Latina and the sanctuary of Montevergine. One of the major recent works outside of Rome there are the three monumental glass walls (263 square meters) representing the Trinity completed in 1999 for the basilica of San Francesco da Paola in the town of Paola (Cosenza). Hajnal had also worked on glass walls outside of Italy, mainly in São Paulo (Brasil), Hartford (Connecticut), Oakland (California) and Lucerne (Switzerland). Of particular importance is the three major glass walls for the cathedral of Palma de Majorca (Spain) completed in 1995[2]

Hartford is the capital city of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. The city is nicknamed the "Insurance Capital of the World", as it hosts many insurance company headquarters and is the region's major industry. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford area of Connecticut. Census estimates since the 2010 United States Census have indicated that Hartford is the fourth-largest city in Connecticut, behind the coastal cities of Bridgeport, New Haven, and Stamford.

Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the United States. As of the 2010 Census, it has the highest per-capita income, Human Development Index (0.962), and median household income in the United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford and its most populous city is Bridgeport. It is part of New England, although portions of it are often grouped with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-state area. The state is named for the Connecticut River which approximately bisects the state. The word "Connecticut" is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for "long tidal river".

Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port city, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the San Francisco Bay Area, the eighth most populated city in California, and the 45th largest city in the United States. With a population of 425,195 as of 2017, it serves as a trade center for the San Francisco Bay Area; its Port of Oakland is the busiest port in the San Francisco Bay, the entirety of Northern California, and the fifth busiest in the United States of America. An act to incorporate the city was passed on May 4, 1852, and incorporation was later approved on March 25, 1854, which officially made Oakland a city. Oakland is a charter city.

Mosaic works

Hajnal was also a great mosaic artist. His creations can be found both in Italy and around the world. In Rome his main works are located in the churches of San Leone Magno, Saint Peter's and Paul, in the Collegio Scozzese, Canadian National Church and the Istituto delle Figlie di Maria Immacolata. Other works can be found in Velletri, Bari, Frascati, Teramo, Molfetta, Firenze, Chieti, Gaeta, Formia, Tarquinia, San Benedetto del Tronto. Particularly important are the mosaics created for the Sanctuary of Montevergine in 1980 (182 square meters) and the one for the basilica of San Francesco da Paola in 2000-2001. Other significant works has been completed in Caracas (Venezuela), St Paul (Minnesota), Lincoln (Nebraska), Dublin (Ireland) and elsewhere.

Book illustrations

Hajnal's glass walls and mosaics mainly represent sacred themes whilst in his book illustration we find both sacred and secular themes. In 1969 he drew 120 illustrations for Marcello Camillucci's book Ne Angelo ne Bestia. In 1971 he illustrated 15 drawings for the book Impressioni Romane. In 1986 he painted 32 pictures representing the life of San Guglielmo, founder of the monastery of Montevergine, for the book Episodi della vita di San Guglielmo. In 1989 he produced 20 tempera paintings for Cardinal Virgilio Noe's book. In 2000 the book Il Fascino di Dio was published; here he was commissioned to draw tempera illustrations representing Agostinian saints. Hajnal collaborated with a number of journals and magazines including Avvenire, Osservatore Romano, Discussione, Fiera Letteraria, Solathia, and Ecos. In 1988 he drew the front page and 6 other illustration for the novel La Soglia della Yurta by Paolo Andreocci[3]. Hajnal also specialized in engraving illustrations dedicated to Dante's Divina Commedia, Virgil's Bucoliche, Trilussa's Sonetti and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Stamps

Hajnal illustrated a number of stamp series for the Vatican. Notable works include: 4 stamps in 1983 for the Holy Year; in 1985 the commemorative series for Saint Cyril and Metodio; in 1993 4 stamps for the Seville's International Eucharistic Congress; in 1994 for the International Year of the Family; and in 1998 5 stamps dedicated to the Pope's travels. In 2006 the journal Cronaca Filatelica dedicated its front page to Hajnal's stamp creations. Other works In Hungary his works are exposed in Budapest in the Museum of Art and in the Museum of the Capital and in private collections.

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References

1. ^ Laura Gori, I mosaici e le vetrate di Giovanni Hajnal, in Stile.it, 10 December 2001. URL consulted on 2010-10-12. 2. ^ a b c d e Luca Frigerio, In ricordo di Janos Hajnal, autore delle vetrate del Duomo di Milano, in Incrocinews.it, 11 October 2010. URL consultated on 2010-10-12. 3. ^ See Pinacoteca in [1]

Bibliography

• Ernesto Brivio, Le vetrate istoriate del Duomo di Milano: la fede narrata dall’arte della luce, Nuove Edizioni Duomo-Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo, Milano, 1980 • Paolo Andreocci, Hajnal, il vetratista, Ecos, giugno-luglio, 1981 • Claudia Zaccagnini, Giovanni Hajnal vetratista nella cattedrale di Velletri, Pisa, Pacini Editore, 2013; • Claudia Zaccagnini, La prima vetrata di Giovanni Hajnal nella chiesa di San Leone I sulla Via Prenestina, in Rivista di Studi Ungheresi, 12 (2013), pp. 181–187.

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