Focus on this artwork and explain the History.
Ivan Meštrović was a Croatian sculptor (1883-1962). Throughout his life, he lived all throughout Europe, in Rome, Vienna, Belgrade and Zagreb, and traveled to many other European cities with his art collections. He was exiled for a time from his home in Yugoslavia for political reasons during World War I.  He became an art professor, and often donated his work to the Catholic Church if they were not able to pay for it.During World War II, Mestrovic refused to cooperate with the “puppet” Croatian government set up by Adolf Hitler and the Axis powers. He was put in jail. When released, he and his family fled to Rome. No longer able to return to Croatia after the war, he accepted a professor position at Syracuse University in 1946. In 1955, Mestrovic moved to the University of Notre Dame to be the sculptor-in-residence and a “Distinguished Professor”, where then-president, Father Theodore Hesburgh, built him a studio.At Notre Dame, Mestrovic created many art pieces that reside on campus, and his influence is seen in pieces created by his students as well. As he said, “Sculpture and art in general should contribute to human civilization, to human progress and mankind’s spiritual development.” As such, much of his work on Notre Dame's campus is religious in nature, including his famous replica of the Pietà statue housed in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame.While at Notre Dame, Mestrovic worked primarily with plaster due to his advanced age and the difficulty of handling and working with large blocks of marble or wood. Several of his works were not cast into bronze until after his death. Among these were the 1956-58 Madonna and Child in the courtyard of Lewis Hall and a superb 1947 plaster portrait of his wife Olga.A bronze copy of the statue, cast from the original molds with permission of Mestrovic's widow, was exhibited at the Vatican pavilion at the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition and is found today at the Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. It was installed in front of Shaw Hall and dedicated in 1989 by Archbishop Philip Hannan.The Shaheen-Mestrovic Memorial was constructed in 1985 by Cole Associates and placed on the South Quad on the west side of O’Shaughnessy Hall. The memorial was intended as a gathering space and a location of the exposition and appreciation of Mestrovic's work. It was planned by Frederick Beckman, chair of the Department of Art, Art History and Design. The figures of the evangelists Luke and John were placed around the central figures of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Eli J. Shaheen, a Notre Dame alum, was the donor for the project.
Adolf Hitler World War I Syracuse University bronze Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame Jesus Belgrade Rome Theodore Hesburgh New Orleans Axis powers marble Pietà statue University of Notre Dame Vatican Notre Dame Seminary Vienna Philip Hannan 1984 Louisiana World Exposition Ivan Meštrović Zagreb Yugoslavia World War II