Rising Sunbeam belongs to the works in Bory Jenő’s oeuvre that depict female figures. The young female figure, stretching towards the sky and seeming almost ready to lift away from the earth, may be interpreted as a symbol of light, hope and renewal.
The work was made around 1923 in the bronze foundry of Bory Pál. It is 220 cm high, and the original may still be seen in the lower garden of Bory Castle. The artist affectionately often referred to the sculpture as “Miss Sunbeam”.
The composition is defined by its upward-striving movement. Poised on tiptoe, the figure raises her arms high, and her body follows the impetus of the gesture in a light arc, as though receiving the rays of the rising sun. The sculpture evokes the moment of nature’s awakening, the turning towards light and the human desire for inner renewal. Its delicately modelled forms, graceful proportions and harmonious movement lend the work a particular lyricism, in which the idealised expression of female beauty and the artist’s personal emotional attachment are both present.
The need to produce a public replica of the sculpture arose during the millennium celebrations. The recast bronze version was completed in the workshop of Nagy Benedek, the sculptor from Mór, and was unveiled on 21 March 2001. The replica was erected on a rock at the shore of Bányató in Székesfehérvár, where the lake and rocky setting provided a natural backdrop for the figure stretching towards the sun. The public sculpture subsequently suffered a troubled fate. In the spring of 2016, unknown perpetrators toppled it from its pedestal and pushed it into Bányató. Firefighters from Székesfehérvár raised it from the water, but the sculpture was seriously damaged and one of its arms was broken off. It was then kept in storage for many years. It later emerged that its former site stood on private property, so the work could not be returned to its original public location. The conservation work was carried out by Kocsis Balázs, sculptor and conservator. Using the original sculpture preserved at Bory Castle as his model, he remodelled the missing part and repaired the damage, restoring the work to its original form. In 2025 the restored sculpture received a new location in Székesfehérvár. It was installed in a rest area developed on the northern shore of Csónakázó-tó, oriented towards the rising sun. Its ceremonial unveiling took place on 18 June 2025. The new setting accords with the work’s original idea, as the sculpture can once again greet the dawn while turning towards the light. Today, Rising Sunbeam is not only an important work in Bory Jenő’s art, but also a defining part of Székesfehérvár’s heritage of public sculpture.