Old Hungarian Print of a Firing Squad?

[Roland]

Hello all, I am so happy to have found this site.
I have had this print for about 10 years, it was given to my inlaws who then gave it to me.
It is hard to get a decent pic of it because it is big an dark.
The bottom of the print has writing on it and I think it says,
"KOSYEVS KALMAN, MAGYAR IRODI ES KONYUK, R , T. BUDAPEST.
The O in konyuk or konyvk looks like an o with quote marks directly above it.
The scene shows a man being tied to a post, clergy praying ,and some men in the back ground smiling all standing around what looks like an a cannon and a bunch of mid 1800s soldiers.
Here are some pics, they are the best i could take at the time.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Roland

[waywardangler]

Oh, geez, how gruesome. I would not want that hanging on the wall.

[ironlord1963]

   don't think that is a cannon, Looks like the cart to carry him off.

[Roland]

Or, to carry them off. I now see 3 men in chains, plus the one on the post.
It is grusome, and also very old. You cant see it in the pics, but the glass is waved , not made like they do today or even 80 years ago.
Still looking for any info tho,
Thanks for the replys.
Roland

[hosman321]

If I had to take a guess, I would say it was made in the teens or 20s. Interesting picture for sure!

[waywardangler]

I do not think it is just any old person they are shooting. I think it is an important event to have all those soldiers/priests/people present. So the question is who did Hungary execute of importance during the time frame the original painter did this? I think someone with international military uniform knowledge can ballpark the timeframe much closer than just the mid-1800s. Maybe someone with Hungarian history knowledge can ascertain the event?

It is obviously not before 1200 and it is not Kalman the King of Hungary. So a more exact transcription of what is written would be nice as almost nothing is spelled correctly.

[CuriousCollector]

But it doesn't appear as if the person being executed is the focus of the painting.  Rather, the focus is on the reactions of the others.  The general looks slumped and defeated.   Some of the religious appear fearful or horrified.  The central figures appear to be politicians rather than military.  It may depict an actual event, but if so, the person who dies is not as important as what happened to bring about the death of the person.

[waywardangler]

All good observations, CC. Why does the one guy have on red when everyone else is dressed so drab? I think it may be the "Execution of the Budapest 8" because there are 8 guys in chains about to be put against the posts and shot. There are 9 posts but 8 men so I wonder if the one in the white robe without a hat is the 9th man? The Execution of the Budapest 9?

[sapphire]

The 13 Martyrs of Arad, painted by Janos Thorma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_13_Martyrs_of_Arad

"The 13 Martyrs of Arad (Hungarian: Aradi vértanúk) were the thirteen Hungarian rebel honvéd generals who were executed on October 6, 1849 in the city of Arad, Kingdom of Hungary (currently in Romania), after the Hungarian Revolution (1848–1849) was ended by troops of the Austrian Empire and Imperial Russia, who reestablished Habsburg rule over the area. The execution was ordered by the Austrian general Julius Jacob von Haynau."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janos_Thorma

"However, he felt that naturalism offered him too little to achieve his goals as a painter, and already as a young man drew inspiration from German romanticism ("The Bereaved", 1892) and French classicism ("The Martyrs of Arad", 1893–94)."

[fancypants]

Ditto on your nice bingo , sapphire !

You're quicker'n me !

[waywardangler]

Nice job, sapphire! You beat me by 2 minutes.

The huge army of the Russian Empire and the Austrian forces proved too powerful for the Hungarian army, and General Artúr Görgey surrendered in August 1849. Julius Freiherr von Haynau, the leader of the Austrian army, then became governor of Hungary for a few months and, on 6 October, ordered the execution of 13 leaders of the Hungarian army as well as Prime Minister Batthyány. Lajos Kossuth escaped into exile.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hungary

[ironlord1963]

    Nice Thread this has been, and great job sapphire and all

[Roland]

A Big Thank you to everyone for the help I have gotten here.
So, it is a painting not a print,and I see the painter lived untill 1937.
Now all I have to do is find a buyer for this grusome thing,
Thanks again to one (Sapphire) and All,
Roland

[hosman321]

It's a print of an original painting. 

[waywardangler]

Yes, hosman is correct. Roland, you have a print. You do not have the original painting. The print is a copy of the original and was mass produced. Big difference in value and desirability.