The 500th anniversary of Marko Marulić’s enduring legacy

In recognition of this significant milestone, the Government of the Republic of Croatia has proclaimed 2024 as the Year of Marko Marulić. The central motif of the national side of the coin is the portrait of Marko Marulić (1450-1524), Croatian writer. Marko Marulić (Marul) was born in Split in 1450 and is a prominent representative of European Christian humanism and Renaissance epics. His literary works, mostly written in Latin, are comprised of works in verse and prose, his literary models being the Bible, the Church Fathers' philosophy and classical antiquity. He wrote the epic poem Judita, his magnum opus, in Croatian. It is the first artistic epic in Croatian literature composed in the Croatian language to contain the underlying poetics of Virgil and the Biblical epics. In it, Marulić achieved a true Renaissance synthesis of Croatian, Latin and Italian literary tradition, thus creating a masterpiece. Completed in 1501, it was first published twenty years later. The coin also features the inscriptions of the two-letter issuing country code "HR" (Croatia), the year of issuance "2024." and the words "MARKO MARULIĆ", which are all inscribed circularly along the edge of the coin's core. The coin’s outer ring bears the 12 stars of the European flag.