Ivan Mestrovic is the greatest Croatian sculptor of his time and one of the most important European artists. Born in Vrpolje, Slovenia on August 15, 1883 into a modest family, he spent his childhood looking after sheeps and during those long, unoccupied hours, spent his time sculpting objects and figurines in pieces of wood that he sells to help his parents or offers them during the holidays. Someone who had noticed his talent in this field sent him to study sculpture as an apprentice at a stone carver, Pavle Blinic. He then met the Italian sculptor Arthuro Ferraroni who gave him his first lessons. A group of art lovers who noticed his work sent him to continue his studies in Vienna with the sculptor Otto Konig. After studying at the Vienna School of Fine Arts where he is a student of E. Hellmer, Hans Bitterlich and Otto Wagner. He took part in the exhibitions of the Viennese Secession group created in 1897 of which he became one of the members and whose influence he will undergo: stylization of forms, marked expression, symbolism, stretching of bodies and limbs then an evolution towards expressionism.

He stayed in Paris where he had the idea of a monumental Temple where would regroup the Slavic heroes of the south, for whose involvement he militated. At the Rome International Exhibition in 1911, he won the first prize for European sculpture and his fame began to expand. 

The First World War will end this period full of freedom, inventiveness and hope. He then turned to a sculpture marked by the Catholic religion (cycle of the Life of Christ, wooden reliefs, fig. opposite) where the influence of Gothic sculpture is very marked. During this period, he worked mainly on wood for mainly religious or patriotic subjects. The sculptor sees his works exhibited in several capitals of Europe but also in the United States while working in Zagreb.