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

The wooden statue as an allegory of the nation’s generosity

it was precisely the country’s financial hardship that paradoxically resulted in the erection of another equestrian statue. True, this one was only made of wood. The monument of National Generosity was erected in Deák tér, outside the Anker Building. Ferenc Sidló carved the figure of a Renaissance horseman in Slavonian oak, a piece whose composition was strongly reminiscent of Verrocchio’s famous Colleoni statue in Venice. The public could affix small metal plates bought at a few koronás’ price to the armoured and helmeted figure of the horseman riding a huge and powerful Muraköz stallion. The proceeds were turned to charitable purposes to alleviate the privation brought on by the war. The figure of horse and horseman was reasonably well executed, even though it necessarily fell behind Sidló’s later works in aesthetic quality.

And yet the sculpture was a popular success. By the end of the war, its entire surface was fully covered with metal

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