Robert Frangeš - Mihanović
(1872 – 1940)
Saint Dominic, 1893
carving, Carrara marble
69 x 25.5 x 21.7 cm
MG-590

Robert Frangeš-Mihanović was a prominent modern Croatian sculptor and medallist, who studied first in Vienna (1889-1895) and then in Paris (1900-1901), where he became friends and socialised with A. Rodin and M. Rosso. He was one of the founders of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (1907), and was amongst the first instigators and organisers of artistic life in Zagreb.
Frangeš was a master at, first and foremost, bronze sculpture, although he was just as skilful at working with marble, a fine example of which is his portrait bust of Saint Dominic (1893). His artistic development reveals different styles, ranging from Academicism through Symbolism to Modernism, that is, the earliest instances of Impressionism in Croatian sculpture. His mature work reveals his own expression featuring Realism in the unrestrained modelling of figures.
In 1892, Robert Frangeš-Mihanović went on a study trip to Italy (Venice, Padua, Florence) where he became acquainted with ancient sculpture and Roman portraiture, as well as the works of the great Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello. In addition to his first portrait of a Roman Citizen, in 1893, Frangeš-Mihanović also sculpted the bust of Saint Dominic in Carrara marble, executed in the naturalistic and realistic manner. Saint Dominic is depicted in a monk’s habit with a hood. On the front side, under the bust, there is a relief depicting a rosary on top of a book, a goose quail and an inkstand. The figure is shaped without idealisation, the neck and face revealing dry, sagging skin of an old man, sunken eyes and tightly pressed dry lips. The portrayed face reflects fatigue and profound wisdom, as well as individual psychology. Frangeš-Mihanović received awards for this sculpture in Budapest in 1896 and in Paris in 1900.

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