Christian Statues in My Village

8/18/2022

I live in a small village of 650 people situated in northwestern Hungary, approximately 10 kilometers south of the Austrian border. I have often described this settlement as "nondescript", and in many ways it is. Nevertheless, the village and its immediate surroundings are home to a number of humble yet moving Christian statues from the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.

Holy Trinity Column - 1780 - This statue -- which is easily my favorite -- stands at the end of the road leading into the village.

Close-up: An interesting visual depiction of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Patrona Hungariae (featuring Saint Stephen of Hungary and Saint James of Hungary) - 1884 - This column is situated in the center of the village just off the main road.

Votive Cross - circa 1840s - At the end of the old dirt road that leading into the village.

Cemetery Crucifix - 1908 - This was erected next to the small chapel in the cemetery.

Close-up of the Cemetery Crucifix.

Pieta - 1919 - Erected shortly after the end of the First World War, this statue is located next to the main entrance of the village's only church. Definitely not Michelangelo, but for a small village, it's more than enough.

6 Comments

S.K. Orr link

8/18/2022 22:47:56

Magnificent works of art. I hope they are never torn down nor defaced by hooligans masquerading as “agents of change” as has been done here in the States.

Francis Berger

8/19/2022 20:28:13

@ S.K. - "Agents of change" are not an issue here, thankfully. The only real dangers these sorts of statues face are the weather, time, and neglect.

Statues in cities or in prominent places in smaller settlements are usually cared for, but many are located in what are now out-of-the-way places -- unused roads, infrequently traveled footpaths, on the edges of farm fields, etc.

David Stollar

8/19/2022 11:36:41

Dear Francis,
I am grateful forr this article and particularly for the photos.
For an out of the way rural hamlet in a relatively unknown country on the unfashionable side of Europe these are works of art showing a culture of considerable skill, sophistication and creativity.
Someone with the time, technical facility and interest could make a lovely book or perhaps a dedicated website featuring such statues.
No doubt other Roman Catholic (perhaps Orthodox as well?) countries will have equally worthy examples which should definitely be recorded.
Do you know of other such sources.
In addition, I have often noticed church towers, especially in Italy, which show enormous design talent, in their proportions, materials and inventiveness.
These are the outward signs of a now dying (dormant?) civilization, so beautiful, so serious, so dignified.
The voices of our fathers calling to us down the ages.

8/19/2022 20:35:19

@ David - Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. These sorts of statues and other religious art dot the landscape here in Hungary.

I found the photos of the statues in my own village on the following website, a social platform that tracks art and sculpture around Hungary via photos submitted by people (it's in Hungarian).

Enter the name of a settlement -- say Budapest or a smaller town like Fertőd, and the site will present photos of what sorts of monuments, statues, and artworks can be found there:

https://www.kozterkep.hu/

David link

8/20/2022 02:14:04

There's a small town near here that has this lovely statue overlooking the ocean, among others, erected in the 1950s. I took these pictures two summers ago:

https://newworldisland.org/uploads/20200903_121124.jpg

https://newworldisland.org/uploads/20200903_121433.jpg

8/21/2022 18:17:27

@ David - Well, what can I say? Beautiful. Reminds me of Caspar David Friedrich's Tetschen Altar.

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Christian Statues in My Village

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