Carlo Conighi
graduated from the Polytechnical University in Munich in 1875. He lived and
worked in Rijeka, Opatija and on Sušak as an independent building contractor.
He planned and executed many residential buildings, villas, summer houses and communal
buildings. As an extremely experienced civil engineer, he worked as a
supervisor on many important building projects in Rijeka, such as the Synagogue
and the Governor's Palace. His architectural style ranges from Historicism to Art
Nouveau, while he also applied a mixture of the two styles, in the manner of the
so-called oriental style, popular in Rijeka at that time and characteristic for
painted decorations on facades.
The Silić House – La Bella Ebrea, from 1909 is an excellent example of
his oeuvre. As one of his later
works, the building is distinguished by eclectic style that flirts with Historicism,
Art Nouveau and the stylization of so-called oriental motifs – enlarged
depictions of grotesque and anthropomorphic creatures or basilisks that give an
overall impression of abundant colourism and high quality of execution. Carlo
Conighi's architecture is a living picture and a mark of special mixture of
Mediterranean and Mittel-European style, specific to Rijeka.
(Source: Theodor de Canziani Jakšić, Exhibition: Dekorativno fasadno slikarstvo u Rijeci/Decorative facade painting in
Rijeka, Državni arhiv u Rijeci/Rijeka State Archive, 2001.