Virtual portraits of János Bolyai

Oláh-Gál Róbert¹, Máté Szilárd²

¹ Sapientia University, Department of Mathematics and Informatics

Szabadsag ter 1, RO-530104 Miercurea-Ciuc, Romania

Address: Str. Rev. din dec. Nr.15,Ap.17, RO-530104 Miercurea-Ciuc, Romania

E-mail: olahgal@topnet.ro

Phone: 040-266-172856

² Sapientia University, Department of Mathematics and Informatics

Szabadsag ter 1, RO-530104 Miercurea-Ciuc, Romania

Address: Florilor 17/3 RO-530130 Miercurea-Ciuc, Romania

E-mail: mateszilard@sapientia.siculorum.ro

Phone: 040-745-132663

Abstract

We’d like to summon our great mathematician in a very simple way, namely we try to create his physical portrait with the help of computer. It’s widely known that there isn’t any authentic portrait of János Bolyai and there is little likelihood of ever coming upon an authentic photo or painting in the back of the archives. Namely there were photos taken of him or paintings made but one of these was destroyed by János himself in a bad mood with the explanation that he never sought earthly glory.

It is important, that we have his father, Farkas Bolyai’s, his mother, Zsuzsanna Benkő’s and his son, Dénes Bolyai’s authentic portraits. From these data with the help of computer graphics, namely the Meesoft’s SmartMorph freeware we can create a virtual portrait of János Bolyai. Tradition has it and his contemporaries claim that János and his son Dénes resemble each other very nearly. The input data: Farkas Bolyai’s and Zsuzsanna Benkő’s portraits, Dénes Bolyai’s portrait and it is to decide which portrait is more correct; the picture painted by Mór Adler in 1861 or János Bolyai’s half-relief on the building of the Culture Palace in Marosvásárhely. Relying upon Zsuzsanna Benkő’s portrait, Mór Adler’s painting is quite fitting, perhaps his painting resembles more Zsuzsanna Benkő, than the half-relief on the on the Culture Palace resembles Dénes Bolyai.

Dénes Bolyai – János Bolyai

Dénes Bolyai – Farkas Bolyai

We made a lot of experiments on the computer and our results are the following: such an analysis is very interesting and edifying. To all probability in the succession of much transformation of faces one of the pictures comes very near to János Bolyai’s real portrait. But no one can tell which one is correct. Moreover, in one of the author’s opinion (Oláh-Gál Róbert) portraits made by the machine are machine faces without soul, they are lifeless faces.

György Klapka – János Bolyai