Otto Antonini
In Front of Siena Cathedral, 1913
oil on canvas, 60 x 89.6 cm
MG-707

Otto Antonini (1892–1959) was born into an artistic family. His father, Marko (Gemona, 1849 – Zagreb, 1937), moved from Italy to Zagreb in 1875 after completing his studies in painting in Rome. He was commissioned to restore frescoes at Count Arthur Nugent’s (1825–1897) estate in Oroslavje and to paint the castle in Trsat. Marko Antonini eventually settled permanently in Croatia, where he created numerous paintings, portraits, and frescoes in churches throughout Croatia and Bosnia, as well as stage designs for the old theatre in Mark’s Square, Zagreb. After completing his studies at the Advanced School of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb in September 1913, and as a scholarship holder from the Society of Arts of the Bishop Posilović Foundation, Marko’s son, Otto Antonini, travelled to Siena to study al fresco church painting at the Accademia Reale di belle Arti. He stayed there until October of the following year. This journey to Siena marked Antonini’s first significant travel experience, and according to Željka Kolveshi’s research, it was the only one directly connected to his formal education. Later in life, he engaged in extensive personal and professional travel, as documented in his private travel records. By the end of his time in Siena, Antonini had acquired Italian citizenship through his father, Marko. Following in his father’s footsteps, after returning to Zagreb, Antonini created frescoes in the churches of St. Vincent and St. Francis. However, he was particularly renowned as an illustrator for newspapers. He played a prominent role in the magazine Svijet from 1926 to 1932, serving as editor, and also contributed to the satirical magazine Šišmiš between 1915 and 1917. Otto Antonini held his only solo exhibition during his lifetime at Salon Ullrich in Zagreb in 1932, where he showcased mainly female portraits, along with some landscapes and illustrations for the cover of Svijet.
In the horizontal composition of the painting In Front of Siena Cathedral, the plain air scene is rendered in traditional technique of oil on canvas, capturing a ‘photographic’ slice of urban life. The scene is defined by the city’s architecture: the left edge is framed by the corner of a shadowed building, while two-thirds of the painting, towards the upper and right sides, depict a fragment of the cathedral’s façade and side wall. The depth of the third plane is emphasised by a house façade in the background, located in the upper half of the left third of the painting. With a depiction of moving staffage in the lower third, life unfolds on the square in front of the cathedral: commotion, bustle, and hustle. The main theme of the painting, as suggested by its title, depicts urban daily life on the square in front of the church. The framed section of the cathedral and the façade of an anonymous building in the background serve as a backdrop for civic activities. The 1913 work also stands out due to its use of a so-called frog perspective, highlighting fragmented details of the city’s urban structure as the stage for everyday human interactions. The treatment of lighting is particularly notable: the characteristic Tuscan white and green marble of the cathedral’s façade is shown bathed in sunlight, occupying the upper two-thirds of the painting, while the main focus – the bustling square – is presented in shadow beneath the building in the lower third. The artist employs a strategy of a sort of contra luce, characterised by a distinct expressive quality. The detail of the backlighting on the corner fragment of the anonymous building continues along the left edge of the painting, creating boundaries for the scene. This shaded ‘border’ along the bottom and left side of the painting, from which the cathedral emerges in full light, offers a possible counterinterpretation where, contrary to the title of the painting, the monumental cathedral itself takes on a portrait-like form. Additionally, the fragmented depiction of the façade further accentuates the sense of its grandeur. Through the intentional omission of certain elements, the idea of the building’s scale is implied, which the observer completes with their imagination.
This genre scene of bourgeois life from the early 20th century was painted just before the outbreak of World War I, marking the end of the belle époque era, which adds an additional layer of interpretative significance. The relaxed depiction of bourgeois leisure during a time of stability and prosperity is soon replaced by the calamities of the 20th century. Moreover, contrary to the suggestion of the painting’s title, it becomes a valid interpretation to see the painting as a portrait of the cathedral, symbolising the divine and spiritual, that rises from the shadows of earthly events into the light (of hope). Rendered with skilled academic realism, featuring an engaging composition with modern cuts accentuated by architectural fragments, this painting serves as a valuable document of Antonini’s time in Siena.

Text: PhD Ivana Rončević Elezović, 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