Prakfalvi Endre: Roman Catholic Churches in Unified Budapest - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2003)

The Parish Church of St. Francis of Assisi, 1879

system, by the compound pillars in the crossing, and the staggered mock- arcades decorating the gables of the cross vault and the transept. In contrast, the helmed roof of the belfry, which is flanked by the approximately 67 metre tall stair turrets, displays eclectic features. One retrospective description written in 1896, the millennial year of the Magyar settlement of the Carpathian Basin, and thus adapting the viewpoint of stylistic historicism, has the following to say: "The Sóskút stone and pressed brick exterior superstructure is characterised by particularly well-balanced proportions, whose finely segmented Romanesque shapes make a deep impression on the viewer; the tower is particularly pleasant with its surprisingly beautiful and ornamental shape."

Although the stained-glass windows representing Hungary's saints perished in World War II, the church can still boast of decorations made by prominent artists (e.g. some of the furniture, including the priest’s throne of the chancel, designed by Ybl himself).

The Pantocrator bust in the triangle of the vault in the western staired gate, a doorway featuring orders of arches and leading under the tower, is the work of the Viennese sculptor Leó Feszler, as are the four Evangelists on the sides of the pulpit. The statue of St. Francis on the portal pediment is the work of Gyula Szász. On the external wall of the northern nave there is a bust of St. Francis, which was made by Alajos Stróbl. Standing at the end of the nave is Béni Ferenci's sculpture of St. Anthony.

The pictures inside follow a complex pattern. Painted by Mór Than, the centrepiece above the main altar features the apostles Peter and Paul, flanking the figure of Jesus. The painting above the altar in the (northern) Evangelical aisle depicting the figure of St. Ladislas drawing water from the rock is also the work of Than. The Epistle side (on the south) is decorated with a fresco by Károly Lotz in which St. Stephen is giving alms to the poor. Further scenes painted by Lotz include the death and last communication of János Hunyadi, the Hungarian general who defeated the Turks at Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade), and another painting of St. John Capistrano declaring a Crusade against the Turks. Pictures representing episodes and miracles (the sermon to the birds, the stigmatisation of the saint) from the life of the titular saint (the patron saint of the monarch) are the works of Mór Than.

A relic, a bone fragment from the body of St. Francis (1181-1226), was placed in an ornamental receptacle in the wall of the southern aisle, in the section of the vault following the organ loft.

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