The Proclamation of Dušan's Law Codex
Paintings by Paja Jovanović / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Proclamation of Dušan's Law Codex (Serbian: Proglašenje Dušanovog zakonika, Serbian Cyrillic: Проглашење Душановог законика) is the name given to each of seven versions of a composition painted by Paja Jovanović which depict Dušan the Mighty introducing Serbia's earliest surviving law codex to his subjects in Skopje in 1349. The Royal Serbian Government commissioned the first version for 30,000 dinars in 1899, intending for it to be displayed at the following year's Exposition Universelle (world's fair) in Paris.
When originally commissioned, the painting was intended to depict Dušan's 1346 coronation as Emperor of Serbia. After consulting with the politician and historian Stojan Novaković, Jovanović decided against painting a scene from Dušan's coronation, and opted to depict the proclamation of his law codex instead. Thus, the painting has often erroneously been described as depicting the coronation. Jovanović paid a great deal of attention to historical detail in preparation for the work, visiting several medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries in Kosovo and Macedonia, studying medieval costumes and weaponry and consulting experts on the period.
The first version was finished in time for the world's fair, where it received widespread critical acclaim and was awarded a gold medal by the fair's artistic committee. In the opinion of one art historian, the artistic committee's decision affirmed that the painting was on par with the works of the world's greatest visual artists. A number of historians and critics consider The Proclamation of Dušan's Law Codex to be one of Jovanović's finest works, and Jovanović himself felt the painting was his "most beautiful composition".