Sümeg Castle may dominate the town, but for many people it is not Sümeg’s most important sight. For them that distinction is reserved for the Church of the Ascension. Architecturally, the building (1756) is unexceptional. But step inside and marvel at what has been called the ‘Sistine Chapel of the rococo’.
That’s perhaps an overstatement, but it’s true that Franz Anton Maulbertsch’s frescoes (1757–58) are the most beautiful baroque examples in Hungary and by far the prolific painter’s best work. Despite now needing a good clean, the frescoes, whose subjects are taken from the Old and New Testaments, are still brilliant expressions of light and shadow. Pay special attention to the Crucifixion scene in Golgotha on the northern wall in the nave; the Adoration of the Three Kings, with its caricature of a Moor opposite Golgotha; the Gate of Hell, across the aisle under the organ loft on the western side under the porch; and the altarpiece of Christ ascending airily to the clouds. Maulbertsch managed to include himself in a couple of his works, most clearly among the shepherds in the first fresco on the southern wall (he’s the one holding the round cheeses and hamming it up for the audience). The commissioner of the frescoes, Márton Padányi Bíró, bishop of Veszprém, is shown on the western wall near the organ. Drop a coin in the machine to illuminate the frescoes and to view them at their best.
