One of the most important historical monuments in the centre of Ikervár is Bory Jenő’s full-length statue of Count Lajos Batthyány. Standing near Batthyány Castle, the work fittingly commemorates Hungary’s first responsible Prime Minister, who formed the first Hungarian responsible government on 7 April 1848.
Bory Jenő made the statue in 1913 from donations by the inhabitants of Ikervár. In its solemn yet restrained appearance, the bronze-cast figure expresses Batthyány’s stature as a statesman, his patriotism and his moral strength. The artist sought to emphasise not the politician’s active public role, but his inner bearing and historical significance. Wrapped in his cloak, with clasped hands, the figure conveys dignity and steadfastness; the statue thus recalls both Batthyány’s tragic fate and the national aspirations of Hungary in the Reform Era.
The memorial is especially important to Ikervár, for the Batthyány family played a defining role in the settlement’s history for centuries. The statue is therefore not only a historical monument of national significance, but also an important symbol of the local community’s past and identity.
Bory Jenő held this work in particularly high regard. A model about thirty centimetres high is now displayed in the first room of the picture gallery at Bory-vár in Székesfehérvár, while the life-size plaster model stands beneath the arcades of the castle courtyard. These surviving versions testify that the Batthyány Memorial also occupied an outstanding place in the artist’s oeuvre.
The Batthyány statue in Ikervár is a valuable work of Hungarian memorial sculpture. More than a century after its erection, it still proclaims the ideals of national independence, responsible government and service to the public, while providing one of the finest testimonies to Bory Jenő’s talent as a sculptor of memorials.