Crossbow of Matthias Corvinus exhibited in New York is a fake?

In the 1920s, the Hungarian National Museum had the possibility twice to acquire the tool; however, experts thought they were holding a poorly executed replica in their hands.

When asking anyone in Budapest to name a Hungarian king, the majority would probably say Matthias Corvinus. This is not a surprise since the Hungarian king first ruling in Hungary and Croatia, then later on in Bohemia and Austria, was one of the most positive figures in Hungarian history. This is partly due to his work introducing renaissance in the country, but also thanks to many stories and tales that were born after his death.

When it comes to his legacy left after his reign, many monuments and objects are found outside of the country as they were found in areas that do not belong to Hungary anymore. However, very few people would think that an object that was barely or maybe never used by the “fairest” Hungarian king could surprise us on the other side of the world, in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, writes 24.hu.

The crossbow crafted in 1489 in Vienna has been part of the Museum’s permanent exhibition for decades,

and pictures of it can be found on their website as well. They write that “the crossbow is one of the earliest surviving dated examples to include heraldry in its decoration….personal coat of arms and the arms of his kingdom are visible. In addition to its rich ornament, the crossbow is remarkable for its sophisticated firing mechanism.”

Researchers unanimously consider the two-kilogram weapon an original piece; however, István Genthon, a Hungarian art historian of the past century, had a different opinion. In 1946, he wrote in the Budapest journal that

“it is obviously an English replica from the beginning of the 19th century, from a time when it was fashionable to collect weapons of famous people”.