Prohászka László: Polish Monuments - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2001)

The Báthory Statue

ments. The appearance of István Báthory’s statue in 1958 was probably one of those measures. (1958 was a turning point in the life of the Polish minority in Hungary, being the year in which the József Bem Cultural Association was allowed to be formed.)

The statue was put up in the middle of a small park at the corner of Thököly út and Hungária körút. The sculptor János Pásztor had taken as his model a famous painting entitled Báthory Before Pskov, painted by Jan Matejko in 1872, which is now kept in the Warsaw National Museum. Báthory is represented as sitting on a throne-like chair, wearing a decorated Transylvanian high cap and a breast-plate, with his sword resting on his two knees. Flowing down from his shoulders is a long cloak which lends a block-like quality to the composition, which is free of all traces of Romantic flamboyance. The sitting figure emanates calmness and active dynamic power at the same time. The solemn quality is enhanced by the structure of the pedestal and the steps which lead up to the foot-stall. Written on the base are the words BÁTHORY ISTVÁH.

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