Prohászka László: Equestrian Statues - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1997)

The figure of the horseherd restraining the horse is a real tour de force. It should be noted that the composition in itself is not particularly original as a male figure trying to control a violent steed was a motif brought back into fashion by the neo-Baroque sculpture of the late 19th century. (Compare the large horse-restraining figures by Josef Lax outside the Austrian parliament buildings in Vienna.) Beyond its compositional features, the work of György Vas- tagh called attention to itself by being the first public sculpture in Budapest that bore the marks of folk-inspired art. The powerful figure of the horseherd beside the brilliantly formed head of the horse lends a unique aura to the statue, which thus manages to declare, without any theatricality, that it was made in Hungary.

The piece won international acclaim at the Paris World Exposition of 1899-1900, and it was also a success at home. The admiration it commanded is best indicated by the fact that the pediment was made by no lesser personage than Alajos Hauszmann, the main architect of the Royal Palace.

The statue sustained serious, albeit fortunately not irreparable, damage during World War II. When the ruined Riding School was later demolished, the future of the statue also became uncertain. CIsing the ongoing archaeological excavations and the concomitant landscaping as a pretext, the authorities did in fact remove it from its place in 1954. However, under the auspices of the extensive restoration work overseen by István Czagány, the piece was eventually moved back to the Castle District in 1983. As its original place had been swept away by a wave of demolition work, the statue was now erected in the middle of an empty space in front of the Mátyás Well. Hauszmann’s original pediment was also found and thus the work of György Vastagh jr. can now be seen restored by expert hands to its original splendour. Its scale model made of bronze is kept in the Hungarian National Gallery, while its miniature china copies have been earning considerable income for years for the Herend Porcelain Factory.

A few years after the erection of The Horseherd, another fine equestrian statue, that of St. George, was erected in the Castle District of Buda. The statue standing by the wall of the Fishermen’s Bastion is a copy only. The original can be seen in Prague.

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