Gyula Donáth (March 13, 1850 – September 27, 1909), was a Hungarian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He was born in Pest and studied in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

with G. Semper. From 1880 onwards he worked in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. His sculptural style integrated elements of

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

as well as the Art Nouveau styles. Much of his output as a sculptor was creating plastic art for tombs, though he also created public monuments for both the Millennium of Hungary (1898) and the Imperial Jubilee, (1908). It was Donáth who sculpted the "Statue of Werbőczi" (since then demolished). Donáth's huge bronze

Turul The Turul is a mythological bird of prey, mostly depicted as a Falcon, in Hungarian tradition and Turkic tradition, and a national symbol of Hungarians. Origin The Turul is probably based on a large falcon. The Hungarian language word ''tur ...

on the railing of

Buda Castle Buda Castle ( hu, Budavári Palota, german: link=no, Burgpalast) is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian Kings in Budapest. It was first completed in 1265, although the massive Baroque palace today occupying most of the si ...

, high above the Danube, was erected in 1905. It is one of the symbols of

. :''The representation of women in Art Nouveau is limited to iconographical types developed from a preoccupation with relatively few themes: the mystery of life and death, the relationship between the sexes, and women as an emblem of whatever was enigmatic or mysteriously attractive.'' The author then goes on to include Donáth's opus ''Song of Lament'' as an example. (Berend) Donáth died in

Sources & resources

*Berend, Ivan T., ''A Golden Age: Art and Society in Hungary 1896 - 1914'', Corvina/Barbican Art Gallery, Miami, Florida 1990 *Mackay, James, The Dictionary of Sculptors in Bronze, Antique Collectors Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk 1977 Hungarian sculptors 1850 births 1909 deaths Art Nouveau sculptors People from Pest, Hungary {{Hungary-sculptor-stub