In the first reconstructed, ornate historical room of the Buda Castle, since the celebration of this year's founding of the state, a new St. Stephen's bust from Kalocsa has recently arrived in the St. Stephen's Hall, Várkapitányság writes.

The bust is a real Hungarian masterpiece from the millennium: the bust of St. Stephen, the goldsmith Károly Bachruch, is considered the bust of St. Stephen of Kalocsa. The work was first shown to the general public at the 1896 Millennium National Exhibition.

The body of the reliquary is covered with a gilded coronation mantle, and the head made of silver plates is adorned with a copy of the Holy Crown. The gems and true pearls adorning the crown were selected based on those found on the original crown, using several smaller sapphires, several true pearls, rubies, an amethyst, and a topaz. The statue was made of 48 kg of silver and 2 kg of gold by the goldsmith, according to the Várkapitányság.

 

The hymn of St. Stephen from Kalocsa at the exhibition (Photo: Várkapitányság)

At the site of the now-exhibited relic was St. Stephen's great bust made in Rome in 1635, could be seenfor the first time in the capital. Its pedestal was made by the greatest sculptor and architect of the era, Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini. Until 6 December, visitors could admire the priceless Baroque relic borrowed from the treasury of the Zagreb Cathedral.  

The head of the bust is decorated with a copy of the Holy Crown (Photo: Castle Captain)

Details of the bust (Photo: Castle Captain)

The hall of the Buda Palace, named after King St. Stephen, was an outstanding achievement of the Hungarian applied art of the turn of the century. The ornate room, which won a grand prize at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, was designed by Alajos Hauszmann. The wonderful room was completely destroyed in World War II, but was recreated to the smallest detail as originally planned under the National Hauszmann Program. 

The St. Stephen's Hall has been admired by more than 35,000 people in recent months, along with the accompanying exhibition, and the popularity of the exhibition has remained unbroken since it opened. The number of foreign guests is also growing steadily, exceeding ten percent of all visitors in November. Most came from southern Europe, Germany and France, but the exhibition is also popular with Indian tourists.

Source: Várkapitányság

Cover photo: St. Stephen's Hermit from Kalocsa can be seen in the Budavár Palace (Photo: Várkapitányság)