Ivan Rendić
(1849 - 1932)
A Herzegovinian Woman, 1883 - 1901
marble
55 x 43 x 31 cm
MG-2004

After having received an education in sculpture in Trieste and from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, Ivan Rendić continued his studies in Florence under Giovanni Dupré (1872-76), whose Realism influenced the formation of Rendić’s personal expression of Idealised Realism with features of patriotism.
Once he completed his studies, Rendić stayed in Zagreb on and off (1877-1880, 1889-1902), but he created most of his public monuments and tombstones in Trieste (1881-1921).
Rendić’s sculpture skills and craftsmanship are in the tradition of Croatian sculpture in public spaces, as evidenced by his busts of Croatia’s prominent historical and cultural figures, such as painter Andrija Medulić, painter Julije Klović, poet Fran Krsto Frankopan and diplomat Nikola Jurišić in Zagreb’s Zrinjevac Park, and by his monuments to poets Fr. Andrija Kačić Miošić and Petar Preradović in Zagreb’s downtown locations.
Ivan Rendić’s allegorical tombstone figures, such as the bust of A Herzegovinian Woman, were very popular at the time. The bust is a detail of his A Herzegovinian Woman Weaving a Wreath composition for S. Ivanković’s tombstone in Trieste from 1883. Modelled in high bust and featuring proportional facial features, half-lowered eyelids and slightly open plump lips, the girl’s face is framed by the meticulously modelled details of the girl’s traditional folklore dress.

Text: Tatijana Gareljić, museum consultant of the National Museum of Modern Art©National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Ana Janković
Photo: Goran Vranić©National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb