02 Works The Art of War, Bertalan Székely’s Women of Eger, with footnotes
Women of Eger, c. 1867
Oil, canvas
227 × 176.5 cm
Hungarian National Museum
On 29 September, 1552, an army of 35–40,000 men from the Rumelian army (and an Anatolian contingent) and the troops of Ahmed Pasha from Buda gathered at Szolnok and went on to attack the castle of Eger. The defenders of the castle numbered all together 2000, including serfs with no understanding of warfare, and many women and children, who threw stones and poured hot water, molten bitumen and lead down the siege ladders. Nevertheless, the defenders of the castle, under the leadership of István Dobó, repelled the attacks, and on 18 October, the Turks retreated from the castle.
In his composition, Bertalan Székely wanted to express the Hungarians’ disadvantage in the struggle, as he describes it in his journal. By depicting the central female figure with the attackers in front of her and the castle in flames behind her, he evokes a feeling of true heroism, while creating an eternal symbol of patriotic sacrifice.
Székely’s painting Az Egri Nők (Women of Eger) depicts the defense of the fortress, especially by the womenfolk, and hangs in the Hungarian National Gallery in Budapest. More on this painting