The Millennial Monument in Budapest as the Bearer of Memory, National Identity and Self-awareness

Papp, Gábor György (2021) The Millennial Monument in Budapest as the Bearer of Memory, National Identity and Self-awareness. RIHA JOURNAL : JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSO­CIATION OF RESEARCH INSTITUTES IN THE HISTORY OF ART (Spec.). No 0268. ISSN 2190-3328

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Abstract

In the 19th century, one of the most important national events in Hungary was the 1896 millennial celebration of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin. A central act of the festivity’s symbolical episodes was the erection of the so-called Millennium Memorial (or Millennial Monument) at Heroes’ Square in Budapest. The monument consists of a colonnaded architectural framework that embraces a sculpture-gallery featuring Hungarian leaders and rulers. My paper presents the creation history of the monument from concept to completion. Besides the artistic patterns of the architectural framework designed by Albert Schikedanz, special attention is given to the sculptures of Hungarian sculptors working under the guidance of the leading artist, György Zala, to the relationships between the sculptors and the artistic scene of Vienna, as well as to the models they used. In addition to these primarily art historical aspects, my paper discusses the cultural context of the Memorial. It seeks answer for questions like, how the Memorial became a symbol of national identity already at the stage of planning or what partly complementary ideas about the shaping of national self-image defined the final form of the Memorial.

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