Rózsa György: The Palace of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

IV. The first floor

IV. THE FIRST FLOOR The arabesque-decorated archivolts of the first floor corridor are supported by fluted, paired Ionic columns. On the wall facing the stairs there are three niches. They are framed with paired columns of Pécs red marble and stand on a stucco plinth with pseudo-Corinthian pilasters behind them. The capitals of the pilasters are connected with an arabesque-adorned frieze; the spandrels of the niches contain plaster reliefs of candelabra and syrens. In the central niche stands the bust of János Arany, a plaster cast replica of the marble original by Miklós Izsó, held by the National Museum. On the left we see the marble bust of Stiiler, the architect of the palace. Its erection had been decided on October 30th when news came of the master's death, and it has been carved by Miklós Izsó after the original of Hermann Schievelbein (1817-1867) of Berlin. The niche on the right holds the bust of Kálmán Mikszáth, sculptured by Barnabás Holló in 1910. Between the niches two richly carved doors set in Renaissance-style plaster frames lead to the Assembly Hall. The mahogany wood used for the doors and the Assembly Hail panelling was donated by Károly László, a Hungarian citizen who emigrated to Mexico. * The two-storey high, 35-metre long and 17-metre wide Assembly Hall is the most impressive and stately interior of the palace. The fine Salzburg red marble has only been used for the columns supporting the galleries on the three sides. Some of the factory-processed details, made of cheaper material (such as the caryatides) were originally applied as a temporary measure for the sake of economy but they remained and interfere with the general effect of the hall. The canvas-lined plaster statues, modelled on Berlin originals, were cast by János Marschalkó, already mentioned several times before. As the hall was primarily 19