The Holy Trinity, central panel of the former high altarpiece of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Mosóc (today Mošovce, Slovakia) Master GH

The modestly talented painter of the Altar of the Holy Trinity in Mosóc may have been connected with the now destroyed altar art of Buda by the means of his employer. On the lower edge of the throne of the Heavenly Father, the artist has placed his (her?) monogram, G H, and the date 1471 between the letters. Leaning against the stone steps of the throne are the coats of arms, identifiable as bearing the insignia of János Ernuszt. János Ernuszt was a well-known officer and treasurer of King Matthias I, who was appointed lord lieutenant of Turóc county in 1470. The altarpiece, now in our collection, was ordered from a local master when Ernuszt was already in office, for the parish church of one of the county’s main towns. It was probably due to Ernuszt’s influence that the artist painted the Holy Trinity using Dutch iconography: the Father holding before him his Son on the cross and the Dove of the Holy Spirit hovering between them. The movements of the angels pulling aside the curtains on the tent echo the gesture of opening the wings on the altar.