One of the pairs of statues in the historical arcade depicts King Géza I and his younger brother, Saint László. The two brothers evoke the consolidation of the Hungarian Kingdom in the eleventh century, when, after the struggles for the throne within the House of Árpád, strong rulers again came to lead the country.
Géza I ascended the throne in 1074, after his long struggles for power with his elder brother Salamon ended in victory. His reign was brief, yet he played an important part in restoring the country’s internal order and strengthening royal authority. His name is associated with preserving the continuity of Hungarian statehood in a politically uncertain age.
Beside him stands Saint László, who was his brother’s most important support and, after Géza’s death, became king himself in 1077. In Hungarian historical memory he lives as the exemplar of a just and strong ruler. During his reign, the country’s internal order was consolidated, the organisation of the Christian state was strengthened, and Hungary’s standing in the region increased. His legends, his figure as a chivalric king and his later canonisation secured him a special place in Hungarian culture.
Bory Jenő portrayed the two brothers side by side, in almost equal rank. The composition emphasises their family bond and the historical role of successive rulers. Together, the two figures evoke the period when the Árpád dynasty’s kingdom was definitively consolidated and the Christian Hungarian state entered one of its strongest eras.