In the second part of the 19 th Century Slovenes gradually adopted all mechanisms and organizational as well as manifestative forms of paying public respect to their prominent kinsmen. Since Slovene language, along with Slovene culture expressed in writing, played a central role in the formation of Slovene nationhood poets Valentin Vodnik, France Prešeren, and Jovan Vesel Koseski were honored as notable contributors toward this end. Their portrayals, first their portraits published in books and later in the form of public memorials, were all inspired by examples from abroad. The first statues of Vodnik and Prešeren were plaster busts made in 1858 and in 1865, respectively; during ceremonies dedicated to the poets their heads were crowned with laurei wreaths. Smaller filli-body statues were placed in middle-class salons, libraries, and on the premises of reading societies. Primarily due to their symbolic value, public statues played the principal role in strengthening the importance of depicted notables (the first initiatives for raising such monuments came in mid-19th Century; the unveiling of the monument dedicated to Vodnik in 1889; the unveiling of Prešeren’s monument in 1905). In most cases, the formai, iconographie, and motive patterns in depicting thè heroes who had promoted Slovene national identity became widely adopted only after a certain delay.