Rózsa György: The Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

II. The building

The memorial tablet commemorating the scene of the foundation of the Academy was placed at the Roosevelt Square end of the Akadémia Street facade. It was the work of Barnabás Holló (1866-1917), an outstanding figure of Hungarian sculpture. The idea of a memorial tablet first emerged in 1884 but it was only on February 15th 1891, that Baron Lóránd Eötvös made a definite proposal. The two-metre high, five-metre wide tablet, cast by the Beschorner Co. for 11,000 Florins, was unveiled on January 15th, 1 893. Although Vinzenz Katzler's (1823 — 1882) lithograph, illustrating László Kotsányi's Széchenyi biography published in 1860 stood at his disposal as a model, Barnabás Holló could easily surpass its artistic qualities. The long table, dividing the composition horizontally into two parts, stands in a Rococo-style hall. On the right two arched openings command a view of Pozsony castle, recalling the scene of the National Assembly. The artist modelled the features of individual participants using, as far as possible, authentic sources. Slightly right of centre, at the side of the table towards the viewer, stands Széchenyi in his Hussar officer's uniform, as he offers his income for a year for the purposes of the Academy. Miklós Kolozsváry and István Szoboszlai Pap, Calvinist pastor, stand on the left-hand side, between them the head of János Balogh, the Member for the County of Bars, is visible. István Máriássy, the Member for the County of Gömör and chairman of the regional session, sits at the head of the table, Gábor Döbrentei, Gáspár Takács and György Bartal, Members for Pozsony, stand behind him. Pál Felsőbüki Nagy, Member for Sopron, sits on the near side of the table with his back to the viewer. His words, just pronounced, still keep the audience in suspense. On the far side of the table, between the sitting figure of Pál Nagy and the standing figure of Széchenyi, Count József Dessewffy, Deputy for Szabolcs county, Count György Andrássy, Deputy for Torna, and Baron Ábrahám Vay, the Deputy for Borsod, are seated. The prominent place of the latter two men was apparently due to their sizeable donations which immediately followed Széchenyi's. Behind Széchenyi, Mihály Platthy, Member for Bars, and keeper of minutes sits on the far side of the table. Count György Károlyi dominates the right-hand side group, also owing to his substantial donation. Besides him, Mihály Esterházy and Zsigmond Perényi, Members for Bereg, are standing, while Miklós Wesselényi's sitting figure effectively completes the clear-cut, successful composition, an outstanding work of Hungarian historical relief sculpture and worthy commemoration of a great event. 14