The Entry of the Magyars. ©YCLORAMA by AHPAD FESZTY. „ENTRY OF THE MAGYARS" has been inspecled ad Budapest by. King Francis Joseph I. Alexander, King of .Scrvia Archduchess Maria Valeria .\i'chduchcss Gisella Archduke Otto Archduchess Maria Josepha Archduke Joseph Archduchess Clothilda Archduchess Maria Dorothea Archduke Joseph August Archduke Ladislaus Archduke Frederic Archduke Rainer Arclidukc Louis Victor Archduke Louis I’rincc Leopold of Gavaria .Mr. Maurice Jokai .Mr. Coloman Tisza Mr. Alexander Wekerlc Baron D. Banffy, I’rimc-ministcr .Mr. Francis Kossuth .Mr. Nikolajevics, I’rime-niinister of Dada Sagadsi Rao, Maharadja of 2.S. OcL lSn4. 10 . U. Jan. ISlI.S. 0. .May 1800 . 0. June I SO I. OO o o o o 20. May .0. ocl. 1804. and 5. ., 1800. o. ., 1804. h. ,. 0 . ., 17. .Inly 181)4. and In. ., 1800. 10. .May 1 4. 14. .1 line Id. .May 8. ISOd. Scrvia 4. .Aug. 1804. Barotla 00. Dec. ,, * 'I'he (’yeloraina was fui'lher inspected hy all i>ui' Statcininistcrs, Archbishops and Bishops, and hy all strangers of distinction who passed our city. Th® Condon C^d. S^rls ^ourt. * The Entry of the Magyars. Taking possession of the country under the leading of Arpad, GYCLORAMA BY ARPAD FE8ZTY. * „\Ve are not inferior to any nation. Zrinyi, the poet. BUDAPEST, The Hungarian Cyclorama Company 1898 . The Explanation of the Picture. Coming upstairs we find ourselves surrounded by a region many miles in extension, partly plain and partly mountainous. It is the Valley ef Volocz, near to the north-east border of Hungary. Far away we see the snowy tops of the Volocz-mountains. Beyond these there is the Pass of Vereczke, where our ancestors entered this country. We are in the midst of an ancient fortified place, a so-called „Foldvar“, earthen castle. Such strongholds were built in a very primitive manner and enclosed the Slavonian dwellings, mere caves in the earth; but in those times, when there were no guns nor battering-rams, they afforded sufficient protection against ravaging bands. This castle has been formed after a model on Trajan’s Column at Rome and the descrip¬ tions of Russian scholars. It is advisable to begin the inspection with the prominent group of fhe chiefs. Among these you will at once distinguish the noble figure of Arpad who, on bis snowwhite steed, and in rich oriental attire, has taken up position on a hill. It seems he arrived this moment with his fellow-chiefs and the steep precipice caused them to stop their horses. Else Arpad would perhaps have chosen that spot. The fertile level attracts his eyes. He enjoys the sight of these plains stretching into unbounded distance, where the rising waters of the Latorcza are flowing like a silver serpent. To find the right drapery for Arpad, for the other 6 chiefs, and for the group of the „Taltos“ (priest) caused not a little effort and study. The main designs were taken from the great Russian book on Costumes in which the Russian scholars, by orders of the Czar gave a descrip¬ tion of the garb of all Asiatic nations. This book contains costumes that were used a thousand years ago, as far as they were obtainable. Many a part of the arms and the attire has quite a Hungarian denotation, as „Csakany'‘ (a kind of a battle axe), „Buzogan 3 d‘ (a fighting club), „Sisak“ (helmet). This book is furnished with imperial splendour, its price being 5000 Rubels, and was made only for sovereigns. King Francis Joseph was much pleased when he was informed, at his inspection of the picture, that Arpad Feszty had drawn part of the costumes out of His Majesty's libraiy. Besides Arpad there are Elod, Kund, Ond, Tas, Huba and Tuhutum, who seem to be occupied with the same consideration as their leader himself. They feel perhaps that the God of the Magyars has appointed for them this land to be, after many years of restless wandering, their inheritance, which was to be consecrated for their lasting home by the blood of many heroes. To the right there roars the battle of the Magyars ; the fierce troop rushes down the hill like a blustering storm. The}^ seem to be innumerable, just as if the earth would bring them forth, as if their horses had wings. The enemy have already diminished ; the rest of the Slavonians oppose with valorous resistance. They die on the spot where they lived ; it was their home though it was not fortified by constitution and political bulwarks; just as the wild forest is the home for the bear and the plain is the home of the hamster. In this land they were born and here they are crushed by the suddenly appearing great strange nation. The attack of the horsemen will especially interest those, who are faniiliar with the history of strategy. On the place before the chiefs you will remark Latorcz, the .Slavonian commander and other captives 7 who, with dazzled eyes, look at the radiant leaders of the unknown invading nation. Who are these ? Whence do they come ? Latorcz’s daughter embraces her father in desperate grief. She foresees the sad fate, that will befall him. For the messengers of the approaching nation had offered peace, but Latorcz had broken the agreement and taken up arms. The other figures aiuong the group of captives also seem to express fear and despair, and give an idea of the painter’s dramatic power of imagination. There can be no doubt about the end of the fight. The picture shows us the last moments of the resistance. The chiefs just ordered to give signal for the finishing of the battle. On a cleared place near the „Foldvar“ the large pile already smokes. The „Taltos“, that is the Hungarian heathen priest, stands before it with stretched- OLit arms and invokes the Spirit of Fire; behind him the „Bonczes“ bring a fine white horse, and the „Kadar“ with a drawn sword waits to offer it tho the God. Dancing girls strew flowers round the pile. The ceremony is accompanied by music; the „lgriczes“ let their pipes and drums sound and an old man beats the time with his hand. The Magyar people begin to gather round the pile. In painting this heathen offering the artist’s imagination has really proved most creative. Without any data only inspired by the genius of history, he composed such a representation of an ancient religious ceremony that every¬ one must say: „lt could not have been otherwise!" When the „Kadar“ had killed the horse, the „Taltos“ turned its entrails towards the sun; if they were trans¬ parent he prophesied success; the fume too, rising straight to heaven was a prognostic of good luck. By and by there will also arrive the princess' carriage. „What a strange team!“ would the visitor say. Four oxen side by side. But such it must have been. That was the luxury of a princess in those times. When they travelled through forests the hatchet had to make way for them. The}/ could afford it, they had plenty of slaves. 10 power, the Petchenegis or Bissenis fought against the Magyars. The tight proved disastrous for the latter; the nation divided in two parts, which w'ere never to meet again. One part drew towards the West and settled in Etelkoz (Atelkuzu). The history of the other is shrouded in darkness. Constantin, Emperor of Greece, wrote on the Magyars, that they divided into eight tribes ; 1. the Kabars, 2. the Nyekis, .3. the Megyeris, 4. the Tarjans, 5. the .lends, 6. the Karis, 7. the Kuihagyarmatis and 8. the Kazis. Pauler, in his great hook of history, says they might have been about a hundred thousand altogether. Each tribe had its own chief, but they had no common ruler. They lived in tents which they could easily take up and pitch on an other place, when the cattle wanted pasture. In the spring they moved to the North, and towards the winter they came down to the South, to the banks of the rivers where they could fish. The men always went on horseback, the women and children on carriages, and they were followed by their herds. They mostly bred horses, cattle and sheep, these supplying the greatest part of their want. For in those times the Magyar usu¬ ally ate meat, less frequently fish, he drank milk, and dressed in hides. His garment was wide, his tur-shoes heavy, proving that he was neither inclined nor accus¬ tomed to walk. When at home, he rested in his tent indulging in conversation and telling tales. The labour was done by the women or by slaves. These were taken from the neighbouring Slavonian peoples. For a while the Magtmrs kept them in their tents and gave them a chance, by satisfying service, to advance to their compan¬ ions and comrades in the fight. Hunting was their plea¬ sure; their chiefest and most favourite occupation was war, rather ravaging incursions upon the countries ot the surrounding agricultural nations, where they captured prey and slaves, which were to be exchanged to the Greeks on the shore of the Euxine for money, coloured carpets and other necessary objects. When the Magyar mounted his horse for fighting his shaved head was 11 covered with a helmet, his breast protected by a shirt ot mail, he had a sword on his side, a spear in his hand, a bow on his shoulder and arrows in the quiver; bow and arrows were his most dangerous arms. When the Magyars met the enemy they began the battle with arch¬ shots and when the latter were perplexed and shaken by the drift of arrows, then the Magyars rushed upon them like a storm, scattering, dashing and crushing them. If the attack had failed they began the arrowshooting once more and pursued the hying enemy till they destroyed them. The Magyars were in general small men of a brown complexion ; they were brave, severe, and held good dis¬ cipline in war ; they were filled with love of liberty, and, when at home, where not so much order was needed as in the face of the enemy, almost ungovernable. With the Turkish nations of Middle-Asia we find nearly every trait which we read the ancestors of the Mag^mrs possessed. The circumstances of the present Turkomans, as Vambery describes them, remind us of many a line of theirs and make them all the better understood. The Hungarian peas¬ ant of to-day and his appearance from the „Kucsma“, a kind of a fur-cap, and the „Bunda“, a wide fur-coat, to the petticoatlike breeches (though not any longer made of hides but of linen) and to the heavy and nibbed boots is a more civilized but not at all degenerated image of his ancestor. In Lebedia the tribe of the Kabars or Mutineers joined them ; these were partl}^ Chazar, partly Bulgarian people who soon learned the Hungarian language but also spread many elements of the Turkish language among the Magyars. As formerly in the fight with the Petchenegis so the war in Etelkoz claimed manv victims. When the Magvars came over the Carpathian mountains they were hardly more in number than before the union with the Kabars, rather less, but at their head there was now a man. After the defeat in Lebedia the tribes chose a common leader, constituting thereb}^ the nation of the Magyars, which name they took up from one of the tribes. 12 Even more fortunate than the institution was the choice of the person. Arpad, the new leader, a son of Almos, who himself was a chief, was about 40—50 years of age, born to rule and to fight. He seized the power conferred on him with strong hands and proved capable to hold together the different tribes, to vanquish every nward difficulty as well as every outward foe, and to obtain for his people a new and constant home. As the Magyars met Slavonian nations in Lebedia and Etelkoz, so they did to the South of the Carpathians also. The Slavonians, before they formed larger realms, lived everywhere divided in small tribes; they liked to dwell in woody or marshy places and \vere occupied with husbandry. Each tribe had its own little nest, a square or round castle made of earth and trenched about, a „Grod“ in their language, into which only one gate led. As to their outward appearance the Slavonians were tall people, neither dark nor light, rather a middle type between the inhabitants of the southern countries and the blue-eyed Germans to the North. They were brave like the Magyars but lacking pride and self-consciousness : they had no warlike spirit nor were they a lordly people but rather carelessly inclined to obedience and servitude. To be sure, Cisdanubian Moravia fought against the Germans and Swatopluk, the great Moravian prince, mer- cilessl}^ destroyed the transdanubian countries; but the war might probably have ended with the victory of the Germans had not the Magyars intervened, and overcoming both struggling parties, occupied the land for themselves. Naturally the different Slavonian tribes did not wel¬ come the invading nation and tried to resist. The strength of that resistance was different in different parts of the country; but we cannot regard it as having been very great or dangerous for the Magyars anywhere. The weak and dissipated Slavonians were not able to withstand an attack that was led by a military and political genius like Arpad. Nor were the Moravians able to resist. Swatopluk died a year before the Magyars came and the disunion of his sons facilitated the victory of the Magyars. The Germans or Eastern Franconians too, after the death of the valiant but broken down Emperor Arnulf, could not hold their eastern Marks and the Pannonian vassals. Five years after they had come over the Carpathians, the Magyars had occupied all the country from these mountains in the North to the Danube and the Save, nay beyond this river to the Capella ranges ; westward towards the ancient Noricum a natural boundary was formed by thick forests stretching from the Capella to Sopron, and from here by the lake Ferto and its adjacent fens trough which the Lajtha (or Sar) flows ; just as in the East and South-East the boundary was formed by the Transsylvanian Alps. Only the County of Szerem (Syrmia) could be kept by the Bulgarian power. How the Picture was prepared. Cyclorama-painting is a contrivance of modern times. It is a most efficacious means to express an artistic idea. The first cyclorama, illustrating a scene of the Crimean war, was opened in Paris about 15 years ago. This first attempt inspired many an artist to paint some historical event in the form of a cyclorama. Since that time there has scarcely been a cultivated town in Europe, where we could not find at least one painting of this kind. With us many have thought, that^ at Budapest too such an enterprise should be created. Arpad Feszty con¬ sidered the painting of the Entry of the Magyars for many years and for the realisation of such a grand plan he thought the most suitable form to be a cyclorama. He, therefore, joined with his elder brother the architect Julius Feszty. Arpad Feszty was to solve the task from the artistic point while his brother undertook it to arrange the financial concerns and to procure the necessary funds. In the winther 1890—91 they applied to the Magis- 14 trates of Budapest for a building-ground, wich, in view of the patriotic and artistic purpose, was generously granted to them. In order to carry out the enterprise a stock-company was constituted under Count Theodor Andrassy s super¬ intendence, many of our leading men having shares in it, thus promoting the accomplishment ot the idea in a most disinterested way. In the month of July, 1891, Arpad Feszty presented to the company the first sketch of the cyclorama, raising thereby much satisfaction and confidence. Such a great task could not, of course, be fulfilled by Feszty himself. He had to look for fellow-labourers He succeeded in securing for his work the help of some of the most prominent Hungarian artists, Paul Vago, Ignatius Ujvary, Baron Mednyanszky, Bela Spanyi, Coeles- tine Palya etc. Among those interested in the matter, many were anxious if the artists would succeed in respect to the reconstruction of the historical, the scientific part. Much search and imagination, strong Hungarian feeling and a thorough knowledge of Hungarian t 3 "pes was required to render the reproduction of that great event possible and probable. Arpad Feszty spent many weeks searching in the libraries of Budapest and Vienna to find details of his subject. Thalloczy, the learned historian, lent him his unwearied assistance in these inquiries. But from that time very fev\' notes of our histoiy have come to us. Feszty and Thalloczy began, therefore, to study the clothing and arms of the Asiatic nations; comparing the Persian and Indian pattern with the fashion in some Hun¬ garian villages Arpad Feszty found the basis whereon his imagination could build. Many details were found in the Ural-Altaj section of the Ethnological Museum w'hence especially the pictures of the idols were drawn. Descrip¬ tions of Russian writers and a portion of Trajan’s Column at Rome rendered the design of the castle, part of which forms the viewer’s standingplace. The countrjq changed by culture during the centu- 15 lies had to be placed on the picture as it was a thousand years ago. For this purpose Arpad Feszty and his fellow- labourers went to Munkacs in the month of August 1891, and had their dwelling in a tent erected near a village called Kenderecske in the valley of Volocz. There the small band of artists took an exact geometrical survey of the whole region. According to these preparations Feszty made his second sketch 12 meters in size. At the beginning of February 1892 the building was hnished and at this time Mr. Mommen from Bruxelles set up the screen 120 meters in length and 15 meters in breadth. Then the drawings were transferred in natural size from the sketches to the screen b}^ a projecting lantern. This being done the proper painting of the cyclorama began. At first the air was to be painted. Mr. Feszty comen- ced it at the beginning of March, but on the third day his fellow-helper Mr. Ujvary was hurt by a board falling from a height of 15 meters, so that he was compelled to lie in bed for several weeks and Mr. Feszty had to continue his w'ork alone. He finished the air at the end of April. In the meantime the other artists were employed with their own different tasks. Mr. Ujvary, when recovered, accomplished the sketches of the wooded mountains to the left; Mr. P. Vago painted the attack of the horsemen ; Mr. B. Spanyi had to perform other parts of woods and mountains. It was worth while to observe the painters a. their w'ork. They were standing on trestles about 15 meters in height which were furnished with wheels and could be rolled on rails at the side of the large screen spread out in a circle. As some of the artists were afterwards engaged with their own occupations, Mr. Feszty had to look for others to replace them. These were Coelestine Palya, Francis Olgyay, Charles Ziegler and Adolf Barsi who made the greatest efforts and worked by day and by night to finish the picture. In the spring 1894, Mr. Festy’sb rush and nerves had to undergo a severe test when he began to harmonize the whole painting. Here a figure was to be expunged, there 16 an other was wanting; here a horseman was too near to the visitor, there a void place was to be filled by a broken carriage and so on. At last all was ready and the Cyclorama could be opened on the 3*^ of May 1894. Since that time people came by hundreds to enjoy this picture representing an important event of the heroic past. —//y/\/Vv— LEGRADY BROTJIERS BUDAPEST. Arpad and his Staff.