Croatian painter Celestin Mato Medović belongs to the forefront of our great artists of the 19th century. He is highly esteemed as a portraitist, excelling in historical and mythological depictions, but he is also considered a pioneer of landscape painting.
Medović is part of a glorious generation of our artists who honed their skills at the most renowned art schools in Europe, while primarily creating art in our homeland. He received his basic education in the monasteries of his hometown of Kuna Pelješka and in Dubrovnik, where he demonstrated his talent for painting as a young boy.
He studied for several years in the schools and studios of Rome and Florence, and later in the schools of Vienna and Munich. During his studies in Munich (1888-1893), he gained recognition for many of his works. The harmonious relationship between figures and objects, as well as his attention to detail, earned him accolades for multiple achievements, including a large silver medal from “Ludwig II of Bavaria” for his painting Bacchanal.
As he was approaching mature years, he found himself less and less suited to the dynamics of city life. The hustle and bustle of big cities, diverging opinions and constant debates no longer appealed to him. He was tired of the art circles, so he decided to make longer visits to his hometown. There, he found a cozy atmosphere reminiscent of his childhood home. He was protected from the demands of clients and their, in his opinion, often unjustified criticisms that stifle artistic inspiration.
As he distanced himself from city life, he also changed his painting subjects. The dynamic mythological and historical scenes he passionately pursued and became famous for in his younger years seemed to remain where they were created, even though they were brilliant.
However, in his hometown, in this nest surrounded by simple people full of genuine kindness, Medović experienced a certain rebirth and gave birth to a new period. He returned to his southern roots, perhaps to finally find himself enriched with life and painting experiences. He creates with new energy and subtlety, with renewed self-confidence, feeling secure and completely devoted to his art. He mostly paints outdoors (plein air), allowing emotions and imagination to roam freely. between famous faces and gentle landscapes. His famous paintings of charming landscapes, fruits, and hunting scenes are created.
In his artistic meditations, he was isolated, therefore somewhat reserved. However, joy would also burst out of him: he would open his soul, join in popular celebrations, or sit with neighbors and relatives under the porch, socialize with simple people, and then he would not be different from them.
His impressionistic views are rich in colors and are in complete contrast to depictions of saints and biblical scenes which he successfully accomplished, once again confirming the power and breadth of his artistic adaptability. The latter are dominated by mild and muted colors, corresponding to the meditative atmosphere of the sanctuary. For extraordinary and numerous depictions of saints, the favorite and frequent models were the faces of his fellow residents, especially those marked by experience.
It has been noticed that Medović idealized some of his models and painting objects, wanting to portray them as perfect. Perhaps, always anew, he wanted to achieve Contemplating the primal beauty, he saw scenes and phenomena more beautiful than what the average eye sees, finding in them more than just peasant faces, rocky shores, and diverse medicinal plants that surrounded him on his native peninsula wherever he turned. Unlike Medović’s brilliant historical compositions full of drama, the pictures of colorful bushes from the modest fields of Kuna Pelješka remain barely noticeable next to them. However, it is precisely these warm-colored landscapes that are considered his most valuable achievements.
And finally, Medović is remembered in his region for something else. In Kuna Pelješka, next to the local cemetery, there is still a row of proud evergreen cypresses that “dum Mato,” as they called him, planted with the schoolchildren, leaving us another message of kindness, beauty, and humanity.
MIHOLJICE
Yellow flowers grow from the black soil,
And they faintly flicker in the sunlight,
Like silent candles while Mass is being sung
In memory of the days when there were swallows.
And I, following the glow of your flowery lights,
Lonely, I follow
In the breath of April,
everywhere searching for a place where the soul could hide,
the shadow of Dead Summer, which still troubles me.
How gently, sadly that cycle passes by,
through the deserted Lapad, where the cypress peeks,
and the mournful song of “the olive picker” lingers!
Only the entourage stopped when the flower of mourning arrived…
Then I sat on a cliff and there calmed the pain,
for I saw Autumn hiding behind the misty waves.
Ivo Vojnović.
2 Plein Airism (French pleinairisme, derived from en plein air: in the open air), a term for painting directly in nature characterized by light, freshness, and vivid colors. Croatian Encyclopedia, online edition.
Edited by: Marina Obradović.