| Approaching Supetar from the sea, one of the first things you notice is an exotic, luxurious building all in white, set amid the pine trees on a headland west of town. Is it a palace? Is it a church? No, it’s the Petrinović family mausoleum. Although it is a thing of beauty, a richly ornamented building with oriental elements, its story leaves a bitter aftertaste with the people of Brač. Ivan Rendić, one of the leading sculptors of the 19th century, had established a reputation as a leading sculptor of cemetery statuary, headstones and mausoleums, especially in his home town, Supetar. Knowing this, wealthy emigrant Frane Petrinović engaged the sculptor to build his family mausoleum. Rendić duly began work. However, the sculptor was approaching the end of his life, his powers were perhaps fading and other sculptors were coming into fashion. Petrinović saw the massive mausoleum of the Račić family in Cavtat by the master sculptor Ivan Meštrović, was impressed and cancelled his order with Rendić. Meštrović refused to take the order, it seems out of respect for the older sculptor. However, Meštrović’s contemporary Toma Rosandić of Split did not turn the work down. Rendić was left destitute and ridiculed in his home town, and died almost in poverty. Rosandić’s mausoleum, however, is quite spectacular, and the well close by is also a powerful piece of work. |