The Family Tree of the Erdödy Family from Hlohovec

The Baroque oil painting, originating from the family residence in Hlohovec, depicts the traditionally portrayed family tree of the Erdődy family. At the bottom, the progenitor of the Erdődy family, recorded in 1259, lies on a red fabric bearing the family coat of arms. Behind him, the tree is placed in a stylized alley.

The trunk and branches are covered with numerous inscriptions and heraldic cartouches, ascendingly representing the generations of the family. Some of the cartouches are crowned, while others are bordered with laurel wreaths. The genealogy ends with Counts Ludovít and Anton Erdődy. At the top, there is an angel dressed in red, holding a Latin inscription scroll that represents the content of the work.

On the left, the angel holds a coat of arms with a stag leaping out of a half-wheel, accompanied by an inscription scroll, granted to the family by Matthias Corvinus in 1459. On the upper right is the count’s coat of arms, granted by Maximilian II in 1565. The family tree is connected to another allegory from Hlohovec by Matej Ignác Fidler from 1743, in which Matthias Corvinus, enthroned, hands the mentioned coat of arms from 1459 to Archbishop Tomáš Bakóc (Bakócz) and receives a relief of the Nativity in return. The commissioner of the work was Juraj Erdődi.

The family tree features motifs of anti-Ottoman symbolism, inspired by the battles with the Ottomans, which had become widespread in Hungary since the 16th century. These symbols represented the military merits of family members, for example, a coat of arms with the severed, bleeding head of a man in a pointed cap from the Čáki family (Csáky), or a coat of arms with an arm dressed in armor emerging from a crown, stabbing an Ottoman head with a spear and flag, associated with the Fáncsy family (Fánči).

Radoslav Ragač

lab.SNG ● Book guide for an exhibition Fruits of Discord: Portraying the Ottoman Presence, SNG 2024.