The motif on this year’s Croatian Post Christmas stamp is the work of academic painter Ratko Janjić Jobo (b. 1941), a master of vistas unburdened by narration, of close-ups of the inexhaustible sea, of mirrors reflecting time itself and of rhythmic sinfoniettas. Yet the poetic scene depicted on this stamp is rich in narrative and detail, made for slow observation and discovery.
This image will make many hearts beat faster: Christmas on Grič, before the Stone Gate, on a snowy night! A scene so unreal it could vanish in the blink of an eye, and with it, this stamp itself! Now is the moment for an experiment: will the image disappear after a blink, or will it endure?
And yet, everything in it seems so real. The Infant Jesus, swaddled like a little loaf of bread, as if painted by some old Sienese master, is warmed by the golden straw, stronger than the chill of snow – perhaps spread there by the angel who, alongside the comet star and other twinkling lights and snowflakes, watches over the scene from the sky. The ox and the delicate-legged donkey watch over the Child’s warmth. Mother Mary, serene and contemplative, is trying to grasp the miracle before her. Slightly withdrawn yet attentive, Joseph the carpenter, who has brought the tools of his trade on his migrant journey, appears to be quietly assembling the manger, the painter making sure it is marked by the Star of David, a symbol of Jesus’s lineage. In the foreground kneels a shepherd, the first to arrive, his foot extending beyond the frame into the space from which we view the scene. Out of reverence, he has removed his hat, and the apple beside him must be his humble gift. Behind him, the Three Wise Men, too, have found themselves in Zagreb, in Grič, bearing their gifts and all the emblems of their honor and faraway lands. The old Grič lantern illuminates them all; never before has it witnessed such a sight beneath its light.
And behind the scene stands the ancient tower of the Stone Gate, which, thankfully, was not demolished in the modernist zeal of the early twentieth century, nor was its steep passageway leveled. It once formed part of the medieval city fortifications, built in the 13th century, when, according to the Golden Bull of King Béla IV, proclaiming Gradec a free royal city, entry was allowed only through the city gates. On 31 May 1731, the tower burned down, but the image of Our Lady from the widow’s apartment above the passage remained untouched. Since then, it has been venerated with deep devotion at the Stone Gate. How did Mary come to visit herself? How did the Child, from snow and straw, visit His own image at the Gate as the young ruler of the world and the universe?
Anything is possible in an image – especially in those that flicker beneath our eyelids. Here, our Cathedral still stands with its untouched spires, joined by the tower of St. Mary, a vision of Zagreb that no longer exists, not only because the recent earthquake has wounded it, but also because the city itself heedlessly destroys elements of its own charm. Yet Christmas is a holiday that heals and promises, that belongs to every place on Earth, that sanctifies every home ground. Thus, Christmas has brought the notion of light and peace to old Grič, too, where it is sorely needed, and the artist, Ratko Janjić Jobo, has captured its passage for us.
Academician Željka Čorak
