The Takovo Uprising
As part of his preparations, Jovanović studied authentic costumes and armaments from the time of the uprising, visited Takovo and sketched the church and large tree under which Obrenović incited the people.
[2] Obrenović is depicted standing atop a large stone, wearing a turban and a red, Oriental-style costume covered in golden embroidery, surrounded by a semi-circle of followers.
With his left hand outstretched, Obrenović waves a large revolutionary flag depicting a red cross centered against a white background.
To Obrenović's right, a man wearing Turkish clothes (red fez, dolman and shalvar pants) places his hand on the flagpole the rebel leader is holding.
The second version has a warmer tone, includes an additional boulder at the bottom left-hand corner and boasts figures that are slightly more expressive.
[1] Despite the initial success of the First Serbian Uprising, by 1813 the Ottomans had reoccupied vast areas of Serbia that had once been under rebel control and captured Belgrade.
Given Serbia's lack of good roads, the Ottomans had to rely on some of the former Serb rebels, such as Stanoje Glavaš and Miloš Obrenović, to maintain order and collect taxes on their behalf.
[5] In 1889, Miloš's descendant King Alexander visited Jovanović at his Vienna studio and requested a painting of the revolt to commemorate its 75th anniversary.
He studied authentic costumes and armaments from the time of the uprising, visited Takovo and sketched the church and large tree under which Obrenović led the people to revolt.
[7] It was first exhibited the following year at his brother Milan's photography studio in Belgrade, not far from King Alexander's residence, the Old Palace.
[9] In 1895, the first version of The Takovo Uprising was purchased by the Zagreb merchant Petar Nikolić, who made lithographic reproductions of the painting and placed them into mass circulation.
She notes that half the people gathered around Obrenović are also wearing Turkish clothes, signifying that while they might temporarily have professed loyalty to the Ottoman sultan, they are actually patriots willing to rise up and fight for the Serbian cause when the moment is right.
[2] "While clearly caught up in the emotion of the moment," Filipovitch-Robinson writes, "they are solid and dignified, ordinary people united by shared beliefs and a common cause.
[4] Filipovitch-Robinson praises Jovanović for providing "further historical testimony to the steadfast faith that enabled the Serbs to retain their identity and unity as a people and persist in their goal of regaining their freedom and nationhood.
[12] The writer and politician Vuk Drašković, who is widely credited with devising the Serbian three-finger salute, has stated that the painting was his primary source of inspiration for the gesture.
