The Altar of Our Lady of Hungary
Benczúr's painting on the altar of Our Lady of Hungary depicts the historical
moment of St. Stephen (who was, by this time, without a successor) asking the
Virgin for the protection of his country. Legend has it that, on the 15th of
August 1038, in Székesfehérvár, on the day of the Assumption and before his
death, he dedicated Hungary to the Virgin Mary with the following words:
"Queen of heaven, glorious restorer of this world, in my final supplications
I commit the Holy Church, with the bishops and priests, the kingdom, the
people and the rulers, to your protection; to them, with my last invocation,
I commend my soul into your hands."
To the right of the altar is a statue of St. Margaret by Béla Ohmann. Her father,
King Béla IV, offered his daughter to God for the salvation of the country
during the Tartar invasion. After the victory, Margaret was taken to the
Dominican nuns on the Island of Rabbits, which is now Margaret Island. The
statue on the left shows Prince Imre, son of St. Stephen.
The image of the Hungarian Holy Crown appears in the semicircular glass
window above the altar.
„Mennyek királynője, e világ jeles újjászerzője, végső könyörgéseimben a szentegyházat a püspökökkel, papokkal, az országot a néppel s az urakkal a te oltalmadra bízom; nékik utolsó istenhozzádot mondva lelkemet kezedbe ajánlom.”
Az oltár jobb oldalán áll Ohmann Béla Szent Margitot ábrázoló szobra. Édesapja, IV. Béla király a tatárjárás idején ajánlotta fel lányát Istennek az ország megmeneküléséért. A győzelem után került Margit a domonkos apácákhoz a Nyulak-szigetére, ami a mai Margitsziget.
A bal oldali szoborfülékben Szent István fia, Imre herceg látható.
Az oltár fölött a félköríves üvegablakon a magyar Szent Korona képe jelenik meg.