Buza Péter: Spring and Fountains - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1994)
carvings. Three of these river allegories sit on three side projections of the architectural base in the middle of the basin. In front, there is the Tisza, as a charming young woman, with legs crossed; in her hands she holds a net out of which have just fallen three starlets. To the left is the Dráva, resting a leg on an ornamental bowl. In her lap are some snails and shells, of which there are also a few in her hair. At the back there is her sister the Dráva, who is more beautiful than the others, but she stares inertly ahead of her....Crowning this clearly constructed architectural design is the figure of the Danube or Danubius, who stands at the top above. He rests one foot on the head of a dolphin, and leans against a shovel in his right hand, while in his left he holds a shell. The veil which has slid off his shoulders reveals his whole person which reminds one of Neptune sculptures.” Over the years the fountain functioned rather intermittently , depending on the water supply. For example after the Great War, the first real ornamental fountain of Budapest was only operated by the municipality on Sundays, while on weekdays the public could only admire it as a group of statues. It was badly damaged in World War 11, and what was spared by the shells was destroyed by carelessness when it was dismantled in line with a decision made by the authorities. The carved stones were jerked apart and the sculptures were pulled down with wire ropes. Re-carving in the late fifties had to be undertaken on the basis of not very detailed photographs. Stone was once again brought from Budakalász, now to the studio of Dezső Győry in Százados út. The transportation of the slab for the central basin posed difficulties this time, too, and the spot where the work was to be erected was also a problem, as it had been before. Margaret Island was considered, and so were Városliget, the Danube embankment, Deák tér and the vicinity of the Basilica. Eventually, it was this last location where the rebuilt Danubius was unveiled in 1959. Its re-creator insisted on a faithful reproduction of every detail except for two features. He made the allegory of the Danube larger so that the male figure six metres above the ground could dominate the composition when seen from below. And there was another problem related to perspective. Győry would have insisted on the original position regarding the cardinal points, but the chairman of the local council took objection to this as the sculpture would thus turn its back on himself and his office building. Since that would surely not do, the sculpture had to be turned around. One part of the original composition, the young girl personifying the Száva, which had survived the vicissitudes almost unharmed, can still be seen in its old vicinity. It sits idle in the courtyard of no. 9 Kálvin tér. 38
