Ivan Mestrovic is considered the greatest and most sought after Croatian sculptor and one of the most prominent sculptors of the 20th century. In 1905 he moved to Paris after training in Vienna and received attention from Rodin , who said he was "the greatest phenomenon among sculptors". He accepted a post to teach at the University of Syracuse in 1946 after his monumentally successful one man show at the Met in New York.Widely acclaimed as a genius, he became an American citizen in 1954 and a year later he became professor of sculpture at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend Indiana where he modeled and cast the present sculpture.