A Wounded Montenegrin, replica

In this picture Čermák painted an event, which he knew from personal experience, having participated in the fierce clashes of Montenegrin fighters with Omar Pasha’s Turkish troops near Lake Scutari. A ruthless battle took place on 10 August 1862 near the village Meteriza and the hamlet Grab, in which the Montenegrin leader Turo Plamenac found his heroic death. Čermák made more sketches and studies for this painting than for any other. Thanks to them we are able to follow the eleven-year-long evolution of this picture - from the very first drawing made immediately after the fight to the large painting of 1873 for the Croatian bishop J.J.Strossmayer and this reduced replica. Čermák used existing people as his models - the upright figure of a Montenegrin woman resembles the Montenegrin princess Milena.