Page - 197 - in Die Repräsentation der Habsburg-Lothringischen Dynastie in Musik, visuellen Medien und Architektur - 1618–1918

State and National Representation in the Case of Ljubljana’s Town Hall 197 on her head, bringing a plate of fish. Next to her, another girl is bringing a lamb, while a third, down in the lower corner with yarn and cloth in her hands, is carefully following the events around her. At the rear of the procession are two young boys bowing to Ljubljana – the centre of the Slovene spirit and culture – each holding a coat-of-arms of Carinthia and Styria. Also taking part in the procession are members of the Sokol society, waving tricolours high in the air, and the mayor Ivan Hribar, the only person in the allegory to be depicted entirely realistically. At the edge sits Clio, writing the history of the town of Ljubljana in her annals. And above this a “po- etically inspired festive spectacle spreads a clear blue spring sky, and in the distance Ljubljana Castle sends its greeting”.38 Kobilca found the principal inspiration for the models at Kolovec Castle near Domžale where she often returned to from Sarajevo for a holiday. In the last winter days of 1903, the painting was finished and put on public exhibition in the Mestni dom (Town House), where cultural events were held and where the main town fire brigade was located. The painting received many positive responses. Patriots could not praise it enough, saying that “the work is even more pleasantly surprising for us, residents of Ljubljana, because we are trapped in our – old and new – public build- ings which suffer from a barbaric lack of artistic ornamentation”. There were only a few negative reactions to “the ability of the artist’s painting skills. The symmetry can be disputed especially with regard to the hands and Ljubljana who is not sitting in the Figure 5: Ivana Kobilca, Slovenia Bows to Ljubljana, 1903, oil on canvas.