Kolodko doesn't depict the Count – he depicts the actor. Lugosi sits on a ledge of Vajdahunyad Castle, reading his script. He's already wearing the cape.
The castle was originally built as a temporary structure for the 1896 Millennium Exhibition, but due to its popularity was permanently rebuilt in stone between 1902 and 1908. It combines several historic Hungarian architectural styles – its main façade facing Heroes' Square is modelled on the historic Hunyadi Castle in Transylvania. A year after its first opening in 1896, Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" was published. The Irish writer researched his Transylvania exclusively in London libraries – he never saw the real castle. That Budapest and Stoker independently chose the same model is coincidence – or fate.
The actor who made the character immortal. And the script he could never quite put down again.
