In the funerary monument of Gelléri Szabó János, Bory Jenő placed not mortality but the ideal of charity and human solidarity at the centre, evoking the deceased’s life’s work through an allegorical sculptural group.
The funerary monument of Gelléri Szabó János, in the arcade at Kerepesi úti Cemetery in Budapest, was made by Bory Jenő in Ruszkica marble in 1911. It belongs to those funerary monuments which commemorate the person buried there not by means of a portrait, but through the most important moral values of their life. Gelléri Szabó János became known as a public figure and a charitable benefactor. In his will he left a substantial part of his fortune to educational, cultural, scientific and social causes. Among the institutions he supported were the colleges at Debrecen and Pápa, the Reformed grammar schools of Budapest, Szatmár and Máramarossziget, as well as orphanages and other institutions serving the public good. These generous gifts made charity one of the defining features of his life.
Bory Jenő gave form to this idea in the allegory Charity. The central figure of the funerary monument is a seated male figure, bare from the waist up and wrapped in drapery, who draws two small children towards himself in a protective gesture. His powerful, carefully modelled physique suggests resolve and firmness, while his gesture of protecting the children symbolises care and philanthropic love. The composition thus directly alludes to the most important message of the deceased’s life and legacy. The background to the white marble statue is covered in gold mosaic and encircled by a stylised laurel wreath. The laurel is a traditional symbol of glory and enduring human values, further strengthening the memorial’s moral message. The monument’s inscription summarises the deceased’s outlook on life: “Charity is the value of our lives, which the grave cannot consume…”
Two plaster versions have also survived and are now held in the collection of Bory Castle in Székesfehérvár. The work was also shown at the Műcsarnok exhibition of 1913–1914.