Migration of the Serbs

Paja Jovanović, Migration of the Serbs (Seoba Srba), c.1896, oil on canvas, 126 by 190 centimetres (50 by 75 in), Pančevo Museum

Seoba Srba[lower-alpha 1] (English: Migration of the Serbs) is the name given to four similar oil paintings by the artist Paja Jovanović which depict Serbs, led by Archbishop Arsenije III, fleeing Old Serbia during the Great Serb Migration of 1690. The first was commissioned in 1895 by Georgije I, the Patriarch of Karlovci, to be displayed at the following year's Budapest Millennium Exhibition. In the view of the Serbian clergy, it would "present the case for ... a Serbian historical presence" in the Habsburg lands and uphold the contention that Serbs left their homeland at the behest of the Holy Roman Emperor to protect Hungary's medieval borders.

Measuring 580 by 380 centimetres (230 by 150 in), the first painting was completed in 1896, and presented to Patriarch Georgije later that year. Dissatisfied, the Patriarch asked Jovanović to adjust his work to conform with the Church's view of the migration. Though Jovanović made the changes relatively quickly, he could not render them in time for the painting to be displayed in Budapest, and it therefore had to be unveiled at the Archbishop's palace in Sremski Karlovci. Jovanović went on to complete a total of four versions of the painting, three of which survive. The first version is on display at the patriarchate building of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, the second at the Pančevo Museum, and the fourth at Princess Ljubica's Residence, in Belgrade. Migration of the Serbs holds iconic status in Serbian popular culture, and several authors repute it to be one of Jovanović's finest achievements.

Background

Historical context

An illustration of Serbs crossing the Danube into the Habsburg lands

In 1689, Arsenije III, the Archbishop of Peć, incited Serbs in Kosovo, Macedonia and the Sandžak to revolt against the Ottoman Empire and support a Habsburg incursion into the Balkans.[2] On 2 January 1690, the Habsburgs and Serbs were defeated in battle at the Kačanik Gorge. The Austrians began to retreat, prompting thousands of Serb villagers to leave their homes and flee north fearing Ottoman reprisals.[3] In Serbian historiography, this event came to be known as the Great Serb Migration.[4] Between 30,000 and 40,000 Serb refugees streamed into Habsburg-held Vojvodina, north of the Danube River, and settled there.[5][6] The migrants would come to call the regions they had formerly inhabited Old Serbia, and dubbed their adopted homeland "new Serbia".[7] Tim Judah, a journalist specializing in the Balkans, describes the exodus as "one of the most traumatic events in Serbian history".[2]

In 1691, Arsenije struck a deal with the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, whereby the Habsburgs granted the Serbs ecclesiastic and educational autonomy, much to the displeasure of the Catholic Church and Hungarian authorities.[8] Leopold recognized Arsenije as the leader of Habsburg Serbs in both religious and secular affairs, and indicated that this power would be held by all future Archbishops. In 1712, Sremski Karlovci became the Patriarchate for Serbs living in the Habsburg Empire.[9]

Commissioning

In the early 1890s, Hungarian officials announced plans for a Budapest Millennium Exhibition to be held in 1896; it was to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, reaffirm Hungary's "national and territorial legitimacy" and the Hungarian people's "natural and historical right in the areas they inhabited."[10] The Exhibition was to be held at Budapest's City Park. Exhibits were to be divided into twelve distinct areas, one of which was visual art.[11] The showpiece of the art exhibit was to be a painting by Hungary's foremost history painter, Mihály Munkácsy, titled The Founding of the Hungarian State.[12] Several pavilions displaying the cultural and industrial achievements of non-Hungarians living in the Hungarian-administered territories of Austria-Hungary were also built, including one for the Serbs.[13]

In 1895, on the orders of the Patriarch of Karlovci, Georgije I, the Congress Board of Sremski Karlovci commissioned a young Serbian artist, the realist Paja Jovanović, to compose two history paintings for the Serb pavilion.[14] One of the commissioned works was the Vršac triptych, and the other was Migration of the Serbs.[15] In the eyes of the clergy, Migration of the Serbs was to "present the case for ... a Serbian historical presence" in the Habsburg lands.[16] It was also to assert the Serbs' historical contribution to Hungary's development, the legitimacy of Serb territorial claims in the Habsburg Empire, and remind the Hungarians of the "legal and privileged position of ... Serbs in the Austrian monarchy".[10] The official Church narrative held that Leopold had requested that the Serbs of Kosovo, Macedonia and the Sandžak settle the Ottoman–Hungarian frontier to create a buffer against further Turkish encroachment, and Church officials intended for Jovanović's painting to reflect this view.[10][16]

The commission offered Jovanović the opportunity to make a name for himself as a serious history painter, given that the subject of the work was an event of international significance and the painting was to be displayed in a foreign capital.[17] To ensure Migration of the Serbs was historically accurate, Jovanović filled his studio with authentic medieval weapons, costumes and other objects and studied their features, later incorporating them into the composition.[18] He also studied medieval histories, collected ethnographical evidence and consulted historians. Such attention to detail is typical of traditional history painting. The art historian Lilien Filipovitch-Robinson notes that Jovanović also incorporated modern techniques into the work and emulated the naturalistic approach of contemporary landscape painters, showing he was "at ease with the art of the past and that of his own time".[17] The composition marked a significant departure for Jovanović, who up until that point had painted mostly Orientalist pieces as opposed to ones that depicted specific moments from Serbian history.[19]

Description and history

The original oil painting measures 580 by 380 centimetres (230 by 150 in).[20] It depicts Arsenije leading tens of thousands of Serbs into exile, riding a horse and flanked by a Serb flag.[2] In direct reference to The Bible, the image is reminiscent to that of Moses leading the chosen people out of Egypt.[21] The irony, Judah notes, is that the Patriarch is leading his people away from their promised land.[2] The Patriarch and four other figures dominate the composition, staggering unevenly across the canvas as opposed to moving in a straight line. "They punctuate the foreground," Filipovitch-Robinson writes, "directing the eye through the diagonals and curves of their bodies and [gesturing] to the next line of figures behind them. Each subsequent line leads to the next."[22] All age groups are represented in the painting, and Jovanović pays special attention to their facial details.[23] Thousands of figures on horseback and on foot appear in the background before eventually receding into the horizon.[22] The left background shows a thousand Serbian warriors on horseback pointing their lances at the sky, while the right background shows lumber wagons carrying families into exile. At the right foreground, an old man herds his sheep. To the right of the Patriarch, a mother and her infant son sit atop a horse carrying their belongings.[2] The woman is the young wife of militia leader Jovan Monasterlija and the child his son.[24] A mustachioed warrior walks before them with swords fastened to his belt and a rifle resting against his shoulder, "striding purposefully into the future". The warrior's right arm is smeared with blood and bound by a white sling.[2]

Upon seeing it for the first time, Georgije was displeased by Jovanović's depiction of the exodus, particularly the sight of sheep and wagons carrying women and children, saying it made the migrants look like "rabble on the run".[25] According to Filipovitch-Robinson, the source of the Patriarch's displeasure lied in differing interpretations of what had originally caused the migration to take place. The Church maintained that Arsenije was simply heeding the call of the Holy Roman Emperor to head north. Jovanović, having studied the work of historian Ilarion Ruvarac, came to hold the view that fear of Ottoman persecution, rather than the desire to protect the Habsburg frontier, had prompted the migrants to leave their homes.[22][26] Jovanović duly took the painting back to his studio and altered it to the Patriarch's liking, removing the sheep, lumber wagons, and the woman and her infant son, putting stylized warriors in their place.[24] He also placed the letter Leopold had supposedly sent the Serbs inviting them to settle Vojvodina in the hand of a priest riding beside Arsenije.[27] Although these changes were made relatively quickly, Jovanović could not render them in time for the painting to be displayed in Budapest.[24] Hence, only the Vršac triptych was displayed at the Millennium Exhibition.[15]

The first version of the painting, composed in 1896 (left), and the fourth version, composed in 1945 (right)

Migration of the Serbs was unveiled at the Archbishop's palace in Sremski Karlovci in 1896.[24] Up until World War II, it was kept at the Archbishop's palace. In 1941, followers of the fascist Ustaše movement looted the palace and stole it, cut it out of its frame and took it to Zagreb, where it remained until the end of the war. After the war, the painting was returned to Serbia, briefly put on display at Belgrade's National Museum, and then given back to the Serbian Orthodox Church. It was ultimately put on display at the patriarchate building of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Belgrade, where it remains. In 2004, the work began undergoing restoration.[28]

While working on the copy that the Patriarch had commissioned, Jovanović began a second version of the painting, one that retained the woman and her child, the herd of sheep and the wagons carrying refugees.[29] Filipovitch-Robinson asserts that this action is indicative of "Jovanović's firmness of conviction and artistic integrity."[22] This version was smaller than the first, measuring 126 by 190 centimetres (50 by 75 in).[22][30] Like the first, it was completed in 1896, and came to be called the "Pančevo version" as it was acquired by the Pančevo Museum in the 1970s.[22][31] Shortly after its completion, the rights to the Pančevo version were purchased by Zagreb art collector Petar Nikolić, who secured the right to publish lithographic reproductions of the paining for the next fifty years.[29] Such prints became extremely popular, and could be found in many Serb homes up to the end of the 20th century.[32] As the Pančevo version was the first to be lithographically reproduced, it became the best known rendition.[22] It was displayed at the 1900 Exposition Universelle (world's fair) in Paris.[33]

At the height of World War II, Jovanović created a third version on behalf of a Belgrade physician named Darinka Smodlaka, who requested that the figure of Monasterlija's wife bear her likeness.[lower-alpha 2] This version's current whereabouts are unknown, and it is presumed lost. In 1945, as the war neared its end, a wealthy Serbian merchant named Milenko Čavić commissioned a fourth and final version, incorrectly assuming that the others had been destroyed in the fighting. At the end of the war, Čavić gifted the painting to the Mandukić family. The Mandukić's emigrated to the United States after the communist takeover of Yugoslavia in 1945, and took it with them to New York. This version was returned to Belgrade in 2009, and is currently on display at Princess Ljubica's Residence.[29]

Reception and legacy

The journalist John Kifner characterizes the painting as "a Balkan equivalent to Washington Crosses the Delaware" (pictured)

The painting was well received in Serbia and abroad;[34] it has since attained iconic status in Serbian popular culture.[21][29] An allusion to it is made in Emir Kusturica's Palme d'Or winning film Underground, where war refugees are depicted marching towards Belgrade in similar fashion, following the German bombing of the city in April 1941.[1] Several authors have noted similarities between Jovanović's depiction of the migration and images of other upheavals in Serbian history. Historian Katarina Todić observes that there are striking similarities between the painting and photographs of the Royal Serbian Army's retreat to the Adriatic coast during World War I.[35] Judah remarks that the composition resembles images of the exodus of Krajina Serbs following Croatia's Operation Storm in August 1995.[25]

The journalist John Kifner describes Migration of the Serbs as a "Balkan equivalent to Washington Crosses the Delaware ... an instantly recognizable [icon] of the 500-year struggle against the Ottoman Turks."[32] Professor David A. Norris, a historian specializing in Serbian culture, calls Jovanović's approach "highly effective", and writes how the stoic attitude of the priests, warriors and peasants reminds the viewer of the historical significance of the migration. Norris notes how the painting and other similar works stimulated a "revived collective memory" among the new Serbian middle class, "transforming ... folk memory into a more modern vehicle for the invention of a new national ideology based on the Serbian struggle for freedom from foreign domination."[36] The historian Noel Malcolm doubts the historical veracity of depictions of Arsenije leading vast columns of refugees, and writes that there is no concrete evidence to confirm or deny that the number of migrants exceeded 40,000 as Church leaders claimed.[37]

Filipovitch-Robinson ranks the painting among Jovanović's three best works, alongside The Takovo Uprising (1888) and The Proclamation of Dušan's Law Codex (1900).[38][lower-alpha 3] This view is shared by the historian Jelena Milojković-Djurić, as well as Judah.[34][40] Filipovitch-Robinson praises Jovanović's "uncompromising realism" and commends his portrayal of the migrants.[17] She writes that the Pančevo version "validates Jovanović as an insightful commentator on ... Balkan history", and is indicative of "the methodology and technical skill which had already brought him international acclaim."[22] Jovanović "persuades the viewer of the believability and authenticity of the event," she writes. "He captures the determination, strength, and dignity of a people. [...] Regardless of the reasons for this migration, they move forward in unison to meet the hard challenges of an unknown land."[23]

Explanatory notes

  1. Seoba Srba (Serbian Cyrillic: Сеоба Срба) is how the painting is referred to in Serbian.[1]
  2. The amount Smodlaka paid for this version is unknown.[29]
  3. The latter is sometimes erroneously referred to as The Coronation of Tsar Dušan.[39]

References

  1. 1 2 Browne 2013, p. 31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Judah 2000, p. 1.
  3. Judah 2002, pp. 9–10.
  4. Malcolm 1998, p. 139.
  5. Pavlowitch 2002, p. 20.
  6. Lampe 2000, p. 26.
  7. Pavlowitch 2002, p. 23.
  8. Trbovich 2008, p. 73.
  9. Judah 2000, pp. 14–15.
  10. 1 2 3 Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 42.
  11. Albert 2015, pp. 116–117.
  12. Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 42, note 17.
  13. Albert 2015, p. 119.
  14. Milojković-Djurić 1988, pp. 16–17.
  15. 1 2 Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 61, note 68.
  16. 1 2 Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 51.
  17. 1 2 3 Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 52.
  18. Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 43, note 25.
  19. Antić 1970, p. 31.
  20. Facos 2011, p. xxv.
  21. 1 2 Segesten 2011, pp. 104–105.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 43.
  23. 1 2 Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 44.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Milojković-Djurić 1988, pp. 17–18.
  25. 1 2 Judah 2000, p. 2.
  26. Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 60, note 60.
  27. Facos 2011, p. 394.
  28. "Restoration of Paja Jovanović's Famous Masterpiece "The Migration of the Serbs" Begins". Serbian Orthodox Church. 18 August 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 "Četiri originala "Seobe Srba"" [Four originals of "Serb Migrations"] (in Serbian). Politika. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  30. Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 53.
  31. Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 60, note 58.
  32. 1 2 Kifner, John (10 April 1994). "Through the Serbian Mind's Eye". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  33. Filipovitch-Robinson 2005, p. 324.
  34. 1 2 Milojković-Djurić 1988, p. 19.
  35. Todić 2014, p. 446.
  36. Norris 2008, p. 79.
  37. Malcolm 1998, pp. 140–162.
  38. Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 50.
  39. Antić 1970, p. 18.
  40. Judah 1999, pp. 30–31.

Works cited

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