Patterns from plaster of Semmelweis’s statue and complementary figures in Alajos Stróbl’s (1856–1926) workshop. 1906 (photo)
The leading figure of Hungarian sculpture at the turn of the century, Alajos Stróbl used a photography from 1863 for portraying Semmelweis’s figure, putting a book in his left hand, as requested. The woman’s figure and her infant were modelled after his own wife, Lujza Kratochwill and her son. The column-like stand on the limestone pedestal is surrounded by children holding some oak foliage in their hands. The statue’s inscription was simply SEMMELWEIS, as requested by the Committee. The plaster models made for the statue were in Stróbl’s studio in Epres Garden for a long time in order to serve the education of the students of sculpture. Seven members of the Royal Medical Association bought the model of the woman’s figure from Stróbl with their own money and donated it to the Association. The plaster model was installed in the ceremonial hall of the Royal Medical Association in Budapest in 1923, and after the closure of the Association, it was transferred into the Semmelweis Room of the Medical University of Pest.
