Croatian History

Jacques Le Goff:…the flowering of one of the finest European artistic traditionsof the Early Middle Ages…From his foreword to “Croatia in the Middle Ages: A Cultural Survey” The oldest drawing a ship in Europe, from 2700 BC,discovered in Grapčeva špilja (Grabac Cave) on the island of Hvar, Croatia.Photo from Bože Mimica: Dalmacija u moru svjetlosti, 1. Dio, Rijeka, 2004. On the territory of Croatia there exist many remains of the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Let us mention only the…

Read More Read More

Among the best artists of his time was the Croatian sculptor Radovan (born in Trogir, 13th century), who left us the beautiful Romanesque portal on the Cathedral of Trogir. It was established by dr. Marasovic that the Pre-Romanesque church of Sveta Marija in Trogir existed as early as 715-717, see [Goss, p. 88] The wooden portal on the Cathedral of Sv. Dujam in Split carved by Andrija Buvina in c. 1214 is world famous. It is ranked among the most beautiful…

Read More Read More

Another famous Croat was Juraj Dalmatinac (Georgius Mattei Dalmaticus, known as Giorgio Orsini in Italy, 15th century, born in Zadar) who built the Loggia dei Mercanti and the portal of St. Francis Church in Ancona. His epoch represents the golden age of Croatian medieval art. His most beautiful achievement is the Cathedral of St. Jacob (Jakov) in Sibenik, the top monument of Croatian culture, reflecting in a sense the character of urban life of that time, and certainly a sculptural…

Read More Read More

The Hrvoje missal, written by Butko in 1404, is kept in the Library of Turkish sultans Topkapi Sarayi in Constantinople, Turkey. It is considered as one of the most beautiful Croatian Glagolitic books. Note a small strawbery below. Yellow details are made of golden leaves. Outstanding writer and illuminator of glagolitic liturgical books was Bartol Krbavac, born in Lika in the 15th century. His preserved books are kept in the National Library of Vienna (Roc Missal, 15th century), in the…

Read More Read More

An unavoidable name in the history of European architecture is Luciano Laurana (Lucijano Vranjanin, 1420-1479), a Croat born near Zadar. Several Early Renaissance palaces and portals had been built up in Italian cities according to his design: Urbino (building of the grand Ducal Palace), Naples (portal – Triumphal arch in Castel Nuovo, 1450-1455), Venice (Porta Magna in the Arsenal, ~1460, symbol of the Serenissima at the sea), Mantova. He considerably influenced the development of Renaissance architecture. His projects were accompanied…

Read More Read More

Frano Laurana, known also as Francesco Laureano (1420 – 1502), a Croat born near Zadar, was a sculptor in Italy (Naples, Messina, Palermo) and in France (Aix, Marseille, Avignon, Le Mans, Tarascon). In France (Provence) he worked at the Court of Bon Roi René, and married a daughter of a French painter in Avignon. His portrait busts of women represent the highest achievement of the Quatroccento sculpture. They can be seen in galleries in Palermo, Vienna, New York and Paris…

Read More Read More

In the Musée du Louvre in Paris (l’aile Déon) dedicated to Italian sculpture of Quattrocento, two Croatian artists are represented, Francesko Laurana and Giovanni Dalmata de Trau (Ivan Duknovic from Trogir). Their 4 sculptures and bas-reliefs can be seen in the first hall. It is interesting that Renaissance art appeared in Croatia about a hundred years earlier than in France. See information about the exhibition La Renaissance en Croatie at Musée national de la Renaissance in Paris in 2004. Ivan…

Read More Read More

Juraj (Giorgio) Spavento was an important 15th century builder in Venice, whom chronicler Marin Sanuto called homo di grande inzegno. He was a protomaster in construction of the Venetian bell-tower of basilica of St Marco. He participated in building of monumental Scale dei Giganti in Ducal Palace, and was involved in questions of regulation of a canal around Ponte dei Navi in Venetian arsenal. Italian historiography seems to be reluctant to stress that his birthplace was the city of Trogir….

Read More Read More

Sacral paintings of Blaz Jurjev Trogiranin (known as Blasius Pictor, ~1412 – 1448) are held not only in various churches in Croatia – in Zadar, Sibenik, Trogir, Kastel, Split, Korcula, Ston, Dubrovnik, but also abroad – in the People’s Museum in Budapest, Museo Correo in Venice, People’s Gallery in Warszaw, Luxemburg. He was fluent in the glagolitic script, which we know from his short note on the polyptych prepared for the church of St. Lovro in Trogir. Blaz was born…

Read More Read More

Feliks Petancic was the last head-master of the famous scriptorium in Buda (part of today’s Budapest) until the death of Matija Korvin in 1490. He was a Croat born in Dubrovnik around 1455, and he died after 1517. He entered the history as a scribe and a painter. As a miniaturist he portrayed many Turkish sultans and high court officials in his parchment rotulus called Genealogia Turcorum Imperatorum (started in 1502). His another work is Historia Imperatorum regni Turcici (1502)…

Read More Read More