A gyűjtemény leírása
Originally part of the museum's collection on folk customs, this group of religious artefacts gained status as a collection separate from that of children's toys and secular objects in 1968.
The collection currently comprises various articles, primarily images and statuary, that belonged to the regalia of the church or to the religious lives of families and communities, including furnishings from Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic (Uniate), Roman Catholic, and Reformed churches, chapel statuary, icons, and roadside crosses. Items related to the practice of religion within the home are associated with the Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Reformed, and Lutheran denominations, as well as the Jewish and even Hare Krishna faiths.
The earliest piece in the collection is a painted panel from the ceiling of a church in Ádámos, dating from 1526. Areas of the collection of especial interest include painted decorative items from the interiors of 18th century Reformed churches, as well as Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic icons and iconostases. Also forming a substantial part of the collection are glass pictures produced by the workshops of Central and Eastern Europe, and the work of 18th and 19th century monasteries. Separate from other artefacts in the collection are the 11,000 18th to mid 20th-century miniatures and icons that form the Paszternák collection, a product of the efforts of a single collector. A final significant portion of the collection is made up of objects used in religious processions, including miniatures of religious statues, icons, rosaries, votive objects, and offerings.
The curator of the collection is Krisztina Sedlmayr.