One of the most moving funerary monuments in Hosszú Cemetery in Székesfehérvár is a work by Bory Jenő: a bronze statue of the suffering Virgin Mary, keeping watch over the Janny family grave. Seated upon the architectural base of the 310-centimetre-high black marble funerary monument is the 110-centimetre-high “Mater Dolorosa”, made by Bory in 1912.
Bent double by grief, Mary holds a crown of thorns in her lap; deep human suffering is reflected in her face and posture. The statue stands to the right of the cemetery’s town-side gate, scarcely ten metres away, and almost immediately captures visitors’ attention. The funerary monument stands with its back to the fence; its monumental marble block is conspicuous from outside as well, although the statue itself can be seen only from within the cemetery.
A plaster version of the head (43 cm), also entitled “Mater Dolorosa”, is held at Felsővárosi Parish and was included in the Műcsarnok exhibition of 1914. A later pyrobazalt bust version, made in 1922, was likewise shown at the Műcsarnok exhibition of 1923 and at the National Salon’s Exhibition of Ecclesiastical Art in 1926; the latter is now at Bory Castle.
This sculpture is not merely part of a funerary monument, but one of Bory’s earliest major works on an ecclesiastical subject, laying the foundations for his reputation as a funerary sculptor.