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Ferenc Medgyessy was among the first to avoid the generally accepted Academic style, which was either classical or impressionistic. Reaching back to Egyptian, Greek and Etruscan art for inspiration, he portrayed a new type, the figure of the peasant living on the Great Hungarian Plain. His rusticly modelled, monumental statues opened up new grounds for Hungarian sculpture. Between 1905 and 1907, Medgyessy studied in Paris, where he met Aristide Maillol, who himself was inspired by archaic traditions.
A series of monuments for tombs constitute an important segment of Medgyessy's lifework. "The Lengyel Family's Tomb" was commissioned in 1917. Of all his statues, this one shows the closest resemblances to Greek sculpture; the tightly and harmoniously composed female leaning on a column and summoning the meditative mood of Greek stelae evokes a feeling of timelessness.
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