1. The Feast of Attila, 1870.
(Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest)
Attila is the last and most famous ruler of European Huns. He led one of the most powerful empires of his age starting from 434 till his death. The scene at the painting is at his wooden palace in Transylvania. Next to Attila who is in his full strength, Ernakh is sitting, his youngest son. In the front, two poets sing, old veterans are listening to the heroic song with sorrow, while young soldiers are being cheerful. There is a Roman soldier and the historian Priscus on the right side of the painting.
2. Diet Held at Ónod, 1864.
(Parliament, Budapest)
The Diet at Ónod in 1707 was a great happening of the War for Independence (1704-1711) led by Francis II. Rákóczi (Borsi, 1676 – Rodosto, 1735). The deposition of the House of Habsburgs from the Hungarian throne was declared, and the alliance between Hungary and Transyilvania strengthened, new taxes were introduced for noblemen, too. In the front the executed representative of Thúrócz County.
3. Recruitment before 1848, 1861.
(Hungarian National Gallery)
The painting is a reaction to forced draft during the war between Italy and Austria, however, its title is alluding to another era, due to censorship at the time. Soldiers sometimes spent about ten years away from home before they could return, being puppets who serve interests of Austrian power in distant wars, in remote provinces of the Habsburg Empire.
4. The Escape of Béla IV of Hungary, 1882.
(Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest)
In 1241 the Tatars were raving all around Hungary (Mongolian invasion), the king was forced to escape together with his family and the whole court, intruders chased him all to the Adriatic sea, to the city of Trau (Trogir). He devoted his unborn child (Saint Margaret) to save the kingdom. In the night scene the king changes his horse, in the background Mongolians are approaching.
5. The Battle of Mohács, 1856.
(Museum of Eastern-Slovakia, Košice)
It took place on 29 August 1526, and ended with the defeat of Hungarian troops against the Turks. In the centre of the painting is a young "huszár" - horseman of the Hungarian cavalry, the symbol of Kingdom of Hungary, who fell with his horse, while he is holding the Hungarian flag with the image of Virgin Mary. Pál Tomori's (bishop of Kalocsa-Bács, the leader of Hungarian troops) men are saving the dead body of their lord. On the right side of the painting is the flying King Louis II of Hungary, who later drowns into the swollen stream of Csele. The sorrowful happening was followed by 150 years of Turkish rule over Hungary.
6. The Age of Széchenyi and Deák, 1875.
(Wall-painting in the stair hall of the Hungarian National Museum)
On the left side of the painting are Sándor Petőfi and Lajos Kossuth with the national flag, in the middle is István Széchenyi, "The Greatest Hungarian", right to him is Ferenc Deák, "The Wise Man of the Nation" sitting, behind him Lajos Batthyány. János Damjanich and Zsigmond Perényi, martyrs of Arad, as well as József Eötvös minister of culture. The historical panel presents great figures of the Hungarian Reform Era, the War for Independence and the Compromise.
7. The Assassination of Karadjordje, 1863.
(National Museum, Belgrade)
Karađorđe (Đorđe Petrović, 1762-1817), the leader of the Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire was very popular in the period between 1804 and 1813. After the defeated uprising he fled to the Habsburg Empire and lived in emigration. As soon as he got back home, in 1817 Miloš Obrenović ordered his death, and he was assassinated in Radovanj, a village near Smederevo.
8. The Capture of Lőrinc Nyáry and Gábor Perky, 1853.
(Hungarian National Gallery)
In September 1552, Turkish troops heading to North took under seage the fortress in Szolnok, and soldiers who defended the fortress – mainly mercenaries – escaped during the night, but Nyáry with a couple of loyal men defended the fortress till the end. He fell into the hands of Ottomans and was kept as a prisoner in the Yedikule (Seven Towers) in Constantinople.
9. Emeric, King of Hungary Captures His Younger Brother, Andrew, 1857.
(Hungarian National Gallery)
Emeric was the older one of two sons of King Bela III from the House of Árpád, so he inherited the throne, but his younger brother, Andrew, who was supposed to lead troops to The Crusades, from the money he got to go to the Middle East, organized an army and turned against his brother. Emeric - knowing he was untouchable - went alone without any weapon to Andrew's camp and captured him.
10. The Meeting of Ladislaus IV of Hungary and Rudolf Habsburg, 1873.
(Hungarian National Gallery)
The theme of the painting is from the early period of Austrian-Hungarian history (13th Century), when Hungarian sword helped the Habsburg throne for the first time - in the Battle on the Marchfeld. In the center of the composition is the dead body of the defeated Premyslid King Ottokar II of Bohemia, beside him is his son on his knees.
11. Crown and Sword, 1860.
(Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest)
Máté Csák, Hungarian oligarch of Northern provinces vows loyalty to King Andrew III, the last monarch of the House of Árpád in the presence of Ladomer Archbishop of Esztergom in 1293. Princess Elisabeth after the death of her father became a nun in a Dominikan monastery in Töss.
12. Priamos Brings Hector's Dead Body to Troy, 1877.
(Hungarian National Gallery)
Hector is a Troyan prince, the older child of King Priamus and Hecuba, the commander of the fortress of Troy. He was killed by Achilleus who was fighting on the side of Spartans, and out of revenge did not want to hand over the dead body. In the end, the king's appeal and Apollo's pressure had their effect, and on the 9th day Achilleus returned the corpse to Hector's family to bury him. In the centre of the painting are Hector's widow and his little son desperately crying, beside him his younger sister and his mother, on the right side his younger brother, Paris, all of them are mourning.
13. Settlement of the Magyars in Hungary, before 1896.
(Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest)
The scetch of the medium part of the triptych for the Millenium, the monumental final version of the painting was donated to Than’s hometown according to his testament, but the painting was destroyed by the new state authorities after 1918. Seven leaders of the Magyars, with their ruler, duke Árpád on a white horse, starting from their camp at the Verecke Pass set-off to conquer the Carpathian Basin, while their totemic animal, the Turul is leading them. The two wings of the painting-triptych is depicting the blood oath in Etelköz that was sealed by the seven leaders of Hungarian tribes: Álmos, Előd, Ond, Kond, Tas, Huba and Töhötöm.
