About the Church

The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer is the last resting place of the great
Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović and his closest family members: mother Marta,
father Mate, brothers Marko and Petar, son Tvrtko and wife Olga. With the
construction of this building, he fulfilled his intention to build a tomb for his
family, and to give his native land a church in which, according to his wishes, the
holy mass shall be held in the language of the people. For its construction (1926-
1930) he chose Paraćeva glavica, a small hill in the northwestern part of Petrovo
polje, which belongs to the village of Ružić according to cadastral data, and is
only a ten-minute walk from the house of Meštrović family in Otavice. The
architectural project of Ivan Meštrović was realized by architects Harold Bilinić
and Lavoslav Horvat and builder Marin Marasović.

A massive cube is built on a 20-m high hillside from an indigenous type of stone –
limestone and soft siltstone. The cube dominates Petrovo polje to this day,
creating a spatial accent that is widely visible from a variety of views. The outer
floor plan consists of a simple rectangular base with rectangular protrusions on
all four sides, while the wall surface in the interior passes into an octagon. He
finds architectural models in the ancient central buildings, such as Diocletian’s
Mausoleum in Split, while the simplicity of the design of the outer shell and the
purity of plastic forms are a reflection of Meštrović’s architectural
considerations.

The modelling of the interior architectural plastics lasted during the entire
fourth decade, and Meštrović’s students and associates Grga Antunac, Antun
Augustinčić, Ivo Lozica, Marijan Matijević, Dragutin Orlandini and Vanja Radauš
worked on it. The inner wall is rhythmically indented by alternating rectangular
and semicircular niches. They were used as frames for the reliefs, which were
carved by the aforementioned sculptors according to Meštrović’s plaster models. The
Eternally Crucified carried on the wings of the Seraphim is above the altar, and
the four semicircular niches are beautifully adorned by the Evangelists. The north
rectangular niche displays the Nativity of Christ iconographically accompanied by
the scene of the Annunciation on the lateral walls – the figure of St. Mary and
Angel Gabriel, and the south one displays the relief Lamentation, complemented by
raptured Souls of the Deceased.

The painting of the dome, unfortunately, was not completed, but subsequently placed
sketches reveal Meštrović’s unusual iconographic solution. The arrangement of
figures on sketches is read as a hierarchical series on three levels: sitting
prophets or spiritual teachers on the base, and above them ascending archangels
directing their bodies towards the central deity in the centre of the dome. The
overall iconographic programme can be reconstructed from the large number of
sketches and drawings for decorating the dome kept at the Meštrović Gallery in
Split. Judging by them, Meštrović’s intention was to portray all the great world
religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Confucianism), but also to
associate the profane and the sacral in the desire to pay tribute to the greatest
spiritual achievements of mankind: art and religion.

Below the sacred space of the church, buried beneath the ground, there is a
sepulchral part. Immediately after the entrance to the church, there is a stone
slab on the floor that closes the entrance to the crypt. The entrance to the church
was decorated by bronze caisson doors on which Ivan Meštrović had portrayed his
family members. The left wing, dedicated to the female line, depicted his mother
Marta, his first wife Ruža, his second wife Olga, and his daughters Marta and
Marica. On the right he perpetuated the male family members, i.e. his father Mate,
his self-portrait, brother Marko, the youngest brother Petar and son Tvrtko. Only
three of four Ivan Meštrović’s children are shown on the doors. The youngest son
Mate was born in 1930, by which time the doors had already been completed.
Unfortunately, the bronze doors with portraits were stolen during the Great Serb
occupation (1991–1995) and have not been found to this day.

References:

About the Gallery

Throughout the second decade of the 20th century, Ivan Meštrović bought plots in
the area of Meje, the western part of Split, with the intention of building his
future residence. Construction works began at the end of the 1920s. The land is
fenced in by a southern wall with two auxiliary buildings right next to the
entrance (according to the project by Fabijan Kaliterna) over which a promenade
with stone columns and wooden beams would be erected at a later point, and farther
in the direction from the east a villa would be built. For this representative
architectural structure Ivan Meštrović, the alpha and omega of the idea of the
project, collaborated with architect Lavoslav Horvat and for the construction of
the building project with Harold Bilinić and construction entrepreneur Marin
Marasović, the head of the performance of the entire structure.

The construction of the eastern wing with the studio and office in the ground floor
and the living spaces on the first floor began in 1931. In the course of the works,
the terrain is straitened, the supporting and new fence walls are erected, the
auxiliary studio for modeling sculptures in clay is built (1934), and outside the
complex of the villa, towards the sea, two workshops are built for the carving of
caryatids of the Monument to the Unknown Hero on Avala. In 1937, the entrance porch
is extended, the vehicle access road is constructed, the central ground-floor part
of the house is built and, finally, during 1938 and 1939, the west wing of the
building with a storage room for models and the central hall of the first floor are
built.

According to Meštrović’s instructions, the park horticulture is designed and

Mediterranean herbs are planted. Meštrović’s concept of the villa in Meje was based
on three purposes: work, living and exhibiting, which are becoming more and more
spatially defined as construction progresses. The functions merged under the
attribute private were placed in the spacious wings, while those of public
character were placed in the central body of the house. Today, when the gallery
content prevailed, only the original appearance of the dining room evokes the
intimacy of what was then the artist’s home and his life in it.

The villa at Meje was the favourite residence of Ivan Meštrović and his family
since the summer of 1932, but despite the artist’s desire, it did not become his
permanent residence. In April 1941, on the occasion of the death of Marta
Meštrović, Ivan’s mother, the family gathered there for the last time. They were
caught by the Italian occupation of the city. To avoid arrest, Meštrović goes to
Zagreb where he will soon find himself behind bars of Ustaša prison, while his wife
and children will finally leave the Split home one year later. Their correspondence
from the time is preserved in the Meštrović Gallery as part of the family archive.
After the family had left, the property and the house were first looked after
Meštrović friend, writer Milan Ćurčin, who lived on site, followed by art historian
Cvito Fisković. The artist’s relatives, as well as other families, lived in the
villa until 1965

In the Deed of Donation of 31 January 1952, Ivan Meštrović donated four of his
buildings and 132 works of art to the Croatian people. According to the attached
list, the works were included in the composition of each building, creating thus
the preconditions for the formation of the Meštrović Gallery as a museum
institution.
The Gallery holds the artist’s masterpieces made of marble (Psyche, 1927;
Contemplation, 1924), bronze (Distant Chords, 1918; Cyclops, 1933; Persephone,
1946; Virgin and Child, 1917; Job, 1946), wood (Grieving Angels and Merry Angels,
1916), and plaster (Pietà, 1946), which cover all of the periods of the artist’s
prolific creation until 1946.

The permanent setting follows the spatial-thematic definitions. The central hall in
the ground floor is decorated as a representative entrance space. It mostly holds
marble sculptures. The dining room has kept the original character of the artist’s
home. It contains Meštrović’s furniture, several paintings and bronze portraits of
family members. The large exhibition hall on the eastern side of the ground floor
is dedicated to sacral sculpture, an important theme of Meštrović’s art. The hall
is dominated by wooden sculptures of Adam and Eve (1939 – 1941). Alongside the
sacral setting, a special space is dedicated to the monumental sculpture Pietà. The
hall of the western wing on the first floor displays Meštrović’s works inspired by
Impressionism, Secession and Art-Déco. The eastern hall holds sculptures created
mainly between the two world wars. Next to it, there is an interesting special hall
dedicated to the theme of Job. The large central hall of the first floor is
intended for exhibiting sculptures, but also for occasional cultural events in the
Gallery. Additionally, the permanent exhibition of the sculptures on the first
floor is completed by Meštrović’s drawings.

In addition to museum artefacts (sculptures, drawings, paintings, architectural

drawings and furniture), the Gallery preserves documentation referring to the life
and opus of Ivan Meštrović – photographs of his first works of art taken at the
beginning of the century in Vienna and Paris, as well as archive materials,
primarily the family archive found in the house in 1952, containing letters from
family members and friends, their personal documents, etc.

Literature:

About The Meštrović’s Crikvine

The small church and its contents are intended for our people, primarily the wider
classes that, as you may know, still live in their religious traditions, so my wish
was that that world finds its satisfaction, not just those who are educated in art.
(From the letter of Ivan Meštrović to Cvito Fisković of 3 January 1955)

The Meštrović’s Crikvine – Kaštilac are located in the Split area of Meje, below
the southern slopes of the Marjan Peninsula, by the sea, near the Meštrović
Gallery. It is a sacral and artistic ensemble formed on a ruined agricultural
estate with the remains of the building of the Capogrosso family from the 16th
century.

Meštrović first saw the restored Crikvina in 1959, during his stay in Croatia. It
was his first visit to his homeland since leaving in 1942, but also his last.
There, on August 15, he had a birthday party. Driven by memories, he intended to
come next year as well, but was prevented by his deteriorating health.

About the name of the Crikvina complex

After the transfer to the ownership of the People’s Republic of Croatia with a
grant dated 31 January 1952, by which Meštrović donated to the Croatian people his
houses in Zagreb and Split, the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Otavice and the
western part of the Crikvina estate in his ownership, Kastelet. Interestingly,
however, the artist himself objected to naming the object by that name. His
assumption, namely, that there are remains of old churches on the land – in the
eastern part of the complex the foundations of the old church (which was later
disputed) and the church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, and in the western part of
the newly built church of St. Križa, for the construction of which the stone of the
old building was used – prompted Meštrović to name the complex Crikvina: the
remains of old churches. He highlighted that name in his grant. He explains the
reasoning of this name to the art historian Cvita Fisković (director of the
Conservation Institute for Dalmatia, under whose jurisdiction the Meštrović and
Crikvina Gallery was at the time), in a letter from 1955:

‘Meštrović’s castle’ cannot be, because I did not build it as a ‘castle’ or for
myself, but as a small endowment for our people, giving it content that is closest
to its spiritual traditions, and which also shows the drama of man, our light.

You know that places where there is only tradition are so often called that there
were some churches there. That was one reason, and the other, to be honest, was
that the people of Split, in their laziness to think, would not call it ‘Kaštelet
Capogrosso’. These customs of theirs often do not agree with our character, and
give, at least inadvertently, a foreign character to this piece of Croatian land to
which the foreigner often referred.

I liked Crikvina, because it is an old Croatian word. Let the local historians
write what they want in their studies, but they are not allowed to write ‘Kaštelet’
through my reliefs from the life of Jesus of Nazareth, even if it is an addition.”

Literature: