Ljubljana has been enriched by the addition of a sculpture dedicated to the Slovene Protestant writers, whose 16th-century writings were the foundation of Slovenian literature.

On Thursday 28 October 2010 Mayor Zoran Janković unveiled the sculpture to the memory of Slovene Protestant writers Trubar, Dalmatin, Bohorič and Krelj by academic sculptor Lujo Vodopivec in the Park of the Slovenian Reformation on Ajdovščina.

In the infancy of the written word in Slovene, a major role was played by printer Mandelc, who produced about 30 books in various languages, among them a fifth of all printed Slovene in the 16th century.
Three academic sculptors were invited by the City of Ljubljana to submit outline design proposals: Lujo Vodopivec, Matjaž Počivavšek and Primož Pugelj.

The expert commission selected the concept submitted by academic sculptor Lujo Vodopivec. It comprises a monumental bronze male head in repose that rests without pedestal on a soft grassy knoll. The direct contact of the head with the turf-covered ground represents sleep and drawing energy from nature. The starting point of Slovenian culture, founded by the intellectual work of the Slovene Protestant writers, is nature. On the head are large randomly-positioned printed letters. Words can be formed from the letters, from words sentences and from sentences books, as was done for us for the first time in history by the Slovene Protestant writers and printers.

Parallels can be found in this multifaceted artwork by Vodopivec with the colossal Olmec monoliths of male heads of the pre-Columbian era that grow from grass or with sleeping heads by Brancusi, and the use of letters as individual characters makes reference to one of the most original contributions of Slovenian fine art to the European art of Lettrism.

Lujo Vodopivec's sculpture is yet another permanent acquisition in the framework of the UNESCO title of Ljubljana – World Book Capital 2010. We have linked the Primož Trubar Slovenian Protestant Association's initiative for the erection of a monument to the Slovene Protestant writers and printers to the World Book Capital programme. Ljubljana thus obtains a sculpture that is something new for the city in terms of expression and that will supplement the diversity of artistic expression seen in the city thus far.

The total cost of the project was €104,000.