Prince Mihailo Monument (Serbian: Споменик кнезу Михаилу, romanized: Spomenik knezu Mihailu) is a monument of Prince Mihailo. It is located in the main Republic Square in Belgrade, Serbia, and was erected in 1882. It was the first public monument with representation of an equestrian figure of a ruler in Serbia. The monument is by Italian sculptor Enrico Pazzi. Reliefs on the monument were performed according to the drawings of architect Konstantin Jovanović. The monument was declared a Monument of Culture of Great Importance in 1979 and it is protected by Republic of Serbia, as the oldest and the most representative figural Serbian memorial.
Mihailo Obrenović III, Prince of Serbia Prince Mihailo (1823–1868) was Prince of Serbia from 1839 to 1842 and again from 1860 to 1868. His rule began after the death of his elder brother until 1842, when he was ousted in a revolt led by Toma Vučić-Perišić. Prince Mihailo came to the throne a second time, after the death of his father, Miloš Obrenović I, in 1860. He ruled for eight years as the absolutists, making progress in Serbia, harmonized agreements with neighboring countries, for common action in the Balkans. During the second reign of Prince Mihailo, Turkish authorities handed over the remaining cities of Belgrade, Šabac, Smederevo, Soko, Užice and Kladovo back to Serbia. In 1868, Prince Mihailo Obrenović was assassinated in the Košutnjak.
History
Origin During the second half of the 19th century in Belgrade, an increasing number of monuments, representing numerous prominent personalities from the cultural and political life of Serbia, were erected. An official Serbian state delegation visited Russia in May 1867. After meeting with the Emperor Alexander II in Saint Petersburg, the delegates visited the All-Russian Ethnology Exhibition in Moscow. They noticed the watercolor painting Liberation of Serbia, actually a design for the monumental project by the sculptor Mikhail Mikeshin. They brought the painting to Belgrade and the prince liked the idea. He contacted Mikeshin and invited him to Serbia to work on the project. However, the assassination of the prince on 10 June 1868, delayed the artist's visit. The Board for the erection of the monument was formed already on 14 June 1868 and decided to collect donations for the construction of both the church in Košutnjak, at the assassination location, and a monumental sculpture in the city itself. Out of the respect for the assassinated ruler, Mikeshin in Moscow drafted the design for the memorial church or chapel in Košutnjak. After arriving in Belgrade in October 1868, and inspecting the city, in cooperation with the government and the Board, he proposed two designs for the monument to the prince, which was to be erected at the Great Market, or the modern Studentski Trg. After the public display, the citizens apparently liked the designs and approved the building. Painter Stevan Todorović ordered the lithographs to be made in Vienna. However, the process of building the memorials dragged on, and in 1871 Mikeshin's propositions were rejected.
International Competition
Also in 1871, the government opted to build only the monument in the city, which will be "cast from the old cannons". It announced the international design competition. There were three contestants: Stevan Todorović, Vatroslav Donegani from Rijeka and a Prussian sculptor whose name is not preserved. Dissatisfied with the results, the government repeated the competition in 1873. This time, the location for the monument was set at the Theatre Square (modern Republic Square), across the National Theatre in Belgrade, which was built by prince Michael. In total, 15 works were received, mostly from foreign artists. The commission added the former two works by Todorović and Donegani, lifting the number of proposals to 17. The first prize was awarded to the Viennese sculptor Vincenz Pilz, second to the distinguished Florentine master Enrico Pazzi, while the third was Wegener's fellow citizen Anton Paul Wegener. However, late prince's chamberlain Anastas Jovanović pushed the commission in Pazzi's favor. Pazzi was born in Florence in 1819. He was a pupil of the famous sculptor Giovanni Sarti and Duperray. He was representative of the Italian verismo. His artistic direction was showing life as it is, with all its glory and despair. Pazzi had become famous for his work on a monument of the Italian writer Dante; it was erected in 1865 in front of the Florentine church of Santa Croce. Pazzi's Mihailo Obrenović sculpture was to depict the ruler on his horse—an innovation in Serbian society at that time. Work began his work on the statue in 1872 and completed it in 1879, with Serbia gaining independence in 1878. The equestrian statue was undertaken in the classic Italian style of a ruler on a horse, having its model in ancient art. It was the first monumental equestrian statue in Serbia.
Dedication
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