Marija Miletic Dail exhibiting her Five medallions of Croatian history in San Pedro on 19 Nov 2016 - CROWN

“Five medallions of Croatian history”

Opening of the exhibition of Marija Miletić Dail will be on 19th Dec 2016 at 6:30 PM in Croatian Cultural Center of Greater Los Angeles

“Five medallions of Croatian history” is the mural I painted and donated to the Croatian church in Toronto in 1965. The mural is 10 feet high and 40 feet wide, painted entirely on vinyl tiles and put together onto wooden base, secured into the wall. The frame is 6 inch wide steel ribbon. I composed a poem for each panel in the form of folk “deseterac”, printed in gold leaf on thick vinyl, and secured underglass in the lower corners.
The first panel was named “Seoba Hrvata””Croatian Migration”, the second “Krstenje Hrvata” or “Christening of Croats”, the third “Matija Gubec” or “Matija Gubec’s crowning”; the 16th century revolutionary, put to death with a hot iron crown. The fourth “Ante Starcevic – Otac Domovine”, “Ante Starcevic, father of our homeland. And the fifth “Alojzije Stepinac”, our cardinal and Blessed Martyr, imprisoned by communists.
He is pointing the people toward Jesus Christ, who wants to embrace them, and away from the abyss.

I painted my mother into the last panel, also my brother and children, Mirna and Vera, as well as Father Kamber, who let me paint the mural.
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The mural was first painted in Toronto In 1965, And brought to Los Angeles in 2011 by my daughter Vera and her husband David, in order to save and restore it to the original look. it was neglected for decades, exposed to smoke and covering it with newspapers and tape during different functions in the community hall where it was erected.
It was my gift to the people and the church, and since it was removed for the reasons of remodeling, and placed in a basement, Vera arranged it with the priest to release the mural back to me. She and Dave flew to Toronto, rented a large truck in Buffalo and hauled the paintings themselves into the truck to drive them across USA to Los Angeles. Before they were able to do all of that, Dave had to cut the individual panels in half, with the precision of a dentist, so they can pass through the many doors in Toronto as well as in Los Angeles, then be spliced together without a trace of trauma they went through. The panels were situated in Dave’s spacious gallery/workshop, and are being restored by me, with countless hours of Dave’s help.
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As for myself, all I can say is that this mural is my one and only masterpiece, if I ever had one – and I will be forever grateful to vera and dave for their diligence and resolve to save it for me.
Marija Miletic Dail

Formated for CROWN by Darko Žubrinić
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