In early 1944, in his studio in the Nazi-occupied Belgrade, Paja Jovanović painted the portrait of Milutin Milanković, an eminent Serbian scientist and academician. During World War II, the acquaintance between Milanković and Jovanović grew into a close friendship. It is due to their later correspondence and particularly to that dating from the period when this internationally renowned scientist occupied the position of the Vice-President of the Serbian Academy of Science that we can trace the last years of Jovanović's life and work.