The portrait sculpture of Petőfi Sándor occupies a special place among Bory Jenő’s works. The work was made for a competition for a Petőfi sculpture, but the artist had extremely little time in which to complete it.
Bory Jenő therefore used an impression of his own face as a basis, transforming it through artistic intervention into Petőfi’s features. This unusual solution clearly demonstrates Bory’s exceptional sculptural skill and creativity.
The sculpture carries both Petőfi’s familiar, distinctive features and Bory’s individual stylistic traits. This became one of the competition’s most interesting and, at the same time, most debated characteristics. In the end, the jury did not award it first prize, offering a humorous yet apt explanation: the sculpture was “too Bory-like for Petőfi and too Petőfi-like for Bory”. The remark suggested that the artist’s own personality and character remained strongly present in the work.
Despite this, the portrait is an important work because it vividly conveys the personal quality of Bory Jenő’s art. He did not create a simple copy or an idealised representation of a hero, but sought to evoke Petőfi’s spirit through his own artistic vision. The sculpture may still be viewed in the studio at Bory Castle, where visitors can observe at close hand Bory Jenő’s distinctive formal language and the portrait’s unusual story.