Recapture of the Buda Castle in 1686 Gyula Benczúr

In 1886, the capital celebrated the two-hundredth anniversary of the recapture of Buda. An important event in the 1686 war was the liberation of the city from 150 years of Turkish rule. Benczúr’s painting was commissioned for the assembly room of the new city hall on the occasion of the bicentennial, although the work was not completed until 1896. The painting portrays the parade of troops on 3 September, the day after the triumph. The central figure seated on a white horse is Prince Charles of Lorraine, the commander of the military campaign to retake Buda. The soldiers lined up behind him all represent important heroes from the period. Among them are Maximilian II, the elector of Bavaria, János Esterházy, Ádám Batthyány, János Pálffy, István Koháry, and Prince Eugene of Savoy. Standing out in particular are General Dávid Petneházy and also János Fiáth, who is positioned near the general and waving a white flag. The last pasha of Buda, Ali Abdurrahman, died in the siege: his dead body is the most emphatic motif in the foreground of the picture.