Miklós Ybl, born in Székesfehérvár, was an outstanding figure of nineteenth-century Hungarian architecture, whose memory the city preserves in several works of art. The idea of a memorial plaque in his honour arose as early as 1905, but it could be realised only much later.
The bronze relief was eventually made by Bory Jenő in 1942, but owing to the Second World War it was not installed immediately and was even damaged during the fighting. Members of the Székesfehérvár goldsmiths’ and applied-art circle later restored it in 1964, when it was placed on the wall of the Vörösmarty Mihály Library.
The relief is distinctive in that it does not depict a portrait of Miklós Ybl, but refers symbolically to his oeuvre. It shows a stylised image of the Hungarian State Opera House, one of Ybl’s most significant works and an outstanding example of Hungarian Neo-Renaissance architecture. This was a deliberate artistic choice: the plaque commemorates the architect not through a portrait, but by evoking an iconic building and visually communicating the essence of his work.
The work thus serves both as a memorial plaque and an artistic interpretation: Bory Jenő captured not the person but his intellectual legacy. Through its clear, symbolic representation, the relief is modern in outlook yet fittingly evokes the importance of Miklós Ybl, and forms an important part of Székesfehérvár’s cultural and artistic heritage.