For Paja Jovanović, just like for other European Realist painters, being a Realist painter implied a fully veracious depiction of a person, object, interior or a real landscape. When the selected theme was related to a historical event, the artist would first undertake a careful study of all available sources, documents and descriptions. He would then make studies of the interior and exterior, those of costumes and weapons, and, when possible, studies after live models either in his studio or in the field; he studied anthropological types and particular movements and it was only after they had been carefully analysed that he undertook the shaping of a painting’s composition.