The painting was well-received in Serbia and abroad;[43] it has since attained i

conic status in Serbian popular culture.[28][37] An allusion to it is made in Em

ir Kusturica's 1995 film Underground, in which war refugees are depicted marchin
g towards Belgrade in similar fashion, following the German bombing of the city
in April 1941.[44] Several authors have noted similarities between Jovanovi's dep
iction of the migration and images of other upheavals in Serbian history. Histor
ian Katarina Todi observes that there are striking similarities between the paint
ing and photographs of the Royal Serbian Army's retreat to the Adriatic coast du
ring World War I.[45] Judah remarks that the composition resembles images of the
exodus of Krajina Serbs following Croatia's Operation Storm in August 1995.[32]
The journalist John Kifner describes Migration of the Serbs as a "Balkan equival
ent to Washington Crosses the Delaware... an instantly recognizable [icon] of the
500-year struggle against the Ottoman Turks."[40] Professor David A. Norris, a
historian specializing in Serbian culture, calls Jovanovi's approach "highly effe
ctive", and writes how the stoic attitude of the priests, warriors and peasants
reminds the viewer of the historical significance of the migration. He asserts t
hat Migration of the Serbs and similar paintings stimulated a "revived collectiv
e 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 S
erbian struggle for freedom from foreign domination."[46] Art historian Michele
Facos describes the painting as a celebration of the Serbs' "valiant effort to d
efend Christian Europe against... the Ottoman Turks."[47] The historian Noel Mal
colm doubts the historical veracity of depictions of Arsenije leading vast colum
ns of refugees, saying that there is no concrete evidence to confirm or deny tha
t the number of migrants exceeded 40,000, as Church leaders claimed.[48]
Filipovitch-Robinson ranks the painting among Jovanovi's three best works, alongs
ide The Takovo Uprising (1894) and The Proclamation of Du an's Law Codex (1900).[4
9][g] This view is shared by the art historian Jelena Milojkovi-Djuri, as well as
Judah.[43][51] Filipovitch-Robinson praises Jovanovi's "uncompromising realism" a
nd commends his portrayal of the migrants.[20] She writes that the Panevo version
"validates Jovanovi as an insightful commentator on... Balkan history", and is in
dicative of "the methodology and technical skill which had already brought him i
nternational acclaim."[29] Jovanovi "persuades the viewer of the believability an
d authenticity of the event," she writes. "He captures the determination, streng
th, 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."[30
]
Explanatory notes
1.
Seoba Srba (Serbian Cyrillic: ????? ????) is how the painting is most commonly r
eferred to in Serbian. The full title is Seoba Srba pod patriarhom Arsenijem III
Crnojeviem (Migration of the Serbs under the Patriarch Arsenije III Crnojevi).[1]
Georgije had originally approached the artist Uro Predi, but Predi said it would ta
ke two years for him to complete the painting. Jovanovi assured the Patriarch he
could finish the work in eight months.[15]
In particular, Migration of the Serbs was envisaged as a response to The Foundin
g of the Hungarian State.[14]
Jovanovi modeled the figure of Arsenije after Patriarch Georgije himself.[23][26]
Jovanovi modeled the warrior after his acquaintance Nikola Igi, a judge from Vojvo
dina.[31]
The amount Smodlaka paid for this version is unknown.[37]
7. The latter is sometimes erroneously referred to as The Coronation of Tsar Du an
.[50]
References
1.
Popovich 1999, pp.169 171.
Judah 2000, p.1.
Judah 2002, pp.9 10.

Malcolm 1998, p.139.

Pavlowitch 2002, p.20.
Lampe 2000, p.26.
Pavlowitch 2002, p.23.
Miller 1998, p.8.
Judah 2000, pp.14 15.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p.42.
Albert 2015, pp.116 117.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 42, note 17.
Albert 2015, p.119.
Milojkovi-Djuri 1988, p.16.
"???? ?????? ???????? ????? "????? ????"" (in Serbian). Politika. 30 December 20
10. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2007, p.125.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p.51.
Popovich 1999, p.170.
Miller 1998, p.40.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p.52.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 43, note 25.
Milojkovi-Djuri 1988, pp.17 18.
Medakovi 1994, p.254.
Anti 1970, p.31.
Petrovi 2012, p.66.
Kusovac 2009, p.136.
Popovich 1999, pp.170 171.
Segesten 2011, pp.104 105.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p.43.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p.44.
"Nikola Igi "poklonio" lik Arseniju arnojeviu" (in Serbian). Glas javnosti. 21 Apri
l 2007. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
Judah 2000, p.2.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 60, note 60.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2008, p. 43, note 22.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 61, note 68.
"Restoration of Paja Jovanovi's Famous Masterpiece "The Migration of the Serbs" B
egins". Serbian Orthodox Church. 18 August 2004. Archived from the original on 4
March 2016.
"etiri originala "Seobe Srba"" (in Serbian). Politika. 15 September 2014. Archive
d from the original on 25 March 2016.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p.53.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p. 60, note 58.
Kifner, John (10 April 1994). "Through the Serbian Mind's Eye". The New York Tim
es. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2005, p.324.
Petrovi 2012, p.69.
Milojkovi-Djuri 1988, p.19.
Browne 2013, p.31.
Todi 2014, p.446.
Norris 2008, p.79.
Facos 2011, p.393.
Malcolm 1998, pp.140 162.
Filipovitch-Robinson 2014, p.50.
Anti 1970, p.18.
51. Judah 1999, pp.30 31.
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