Mother Croatia

[1] During the Illyrian movement in the 19th century, many prominent writers and intellectuals used the figure of Mother Croatia to represent the Croat people, especially in favor of nationhood and against Hungarian authority.

Writer Mijo Krešić wrote in response to increasing Hungarian threat to the Croatian town Varaždin, "The Hun rejoices, but Mother Croatia laments!

One is the tomb of Petar Preradović, which depicts a young woman (representing Mother Croatia) looking solemnly down at his final resting place as she lays her flowers on top.

In painter Ferdo Quiquerez's Antemurale Christianitatis ("Bulwark of Christendom"), Croatia is portrayed as a woman holding a sword and a shield in the form of the Croatian coat of arms.

Behind her, the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica stands as a symbol Christianity, with noted figures such as Galileo Galilei and Dante Alighieri representing Western civilisation.

Clergyman and politician Franjo Rački wrote a short biography of the 15th century nobleman and bishop Šimun Kožičić Benja in 1861, where he described him being "born to a grieving Mother Croatia" (...porodi žalostna majka hrvatska.

An allegorical depiction of Mother Croatia adorning the grave of her son, poet Petar Preradović
Antemurale Christianitatis (1892). Croatia is portrayed as the woman wielding a sword and a shield, standing as the final defense of Europe and Christianity from the Ottoman Turks.