The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters () is a fine art museum in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
exhibiting the collection donated to the city by Bishop
Josip Juraj Strossmayer
Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; ; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church, politician and benefactor (law), benefactor. Between 1849 and his death, he served as the Bishop of Đakovo, Bishop ...
in 1884. Located at 11
Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square
Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square (, popularly referred to as Zrinjevac) is a square and park in Donji grad (Zagreb), Donji Grad, the central part of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. It is located near the central Ban Jelačić Square, halfway toward ...
, it forms part of the
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia.
HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...
(''Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti'').
The Strossmayer Gallery holding includes around 4,000 works, of which some 250 are on display, with the remainder in storage, or on display at other museums or gallery institutions in Croatia.
History
The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters opened in November 1884, named after its founder, Josip Juraj Strossmayer, the bishop of Đakovo. The Academy itself, with the bishop as patron, had been founded in 1866 and had moved into its specially built premises in the Zrinevac park in 1880, with a floor reserved to house the bishop's art collection.
Bishop Strossmayer had been buying paintings for 30 years, since his appointment as bishop of Đakovo in 1850. He began with Italian art, mainly Renaissance works from Florence and Venice. In the 1870s, however, he diversified into the schools of northern Europe, and 17th-century art. In 1868, he decided to donate his collection to the Croatian people, entrusting it to the Academy. He oversaw the building of a Viennese style neo-Renaissance palace in Zagreb, designed by the architect Friedrich von Schmidt, so that the works of art could be adequately presented to the public. The gallery was opened to the public on 9 November 1884, displaying 256 works of art.
Over the years, such a prestigious collection attracted further donations, including those of contemporary artists. The expansion led in 1934 to the founding of the Modern Gallery to hold the more recent works. Other additions to the collection included acquisitions and donations from notable philanthropists such as Ivan Ružić, Marquis Etienne de Piennes,
Ante Topić Mimara
Ante Topić Mimara (7 April 1898 in Korušce – 30 January 1987 in Zagreb) was a controversial Croatian art collector and philanthropist. He donated his collection of more than 3,700 artifacts, ranging from the prehistoric art, prehistoric to the ...
and
Zlatko Baloković
Zlatko Baloković (March 31, 1895 – March 29, 1965) was a Croatian violinist.
Early years
He was born in Zagreb, Croatia (at the time part of Austria-Hungary), and began violin lessons at age ten. He made such progress that, after three years, ...
.
In 2020, the art gallery building was damaged by a strong earthquake, and is closed as of 2021 due to repairs.
Collections
The Strossmayer Gallery exhibits the works of European painters from 14th-19th century. The holdings have been classified into three major groups: Italian, French and Northern European (German, Flemish and Dutch) works, and also some works by Croatian artists. They were given the collective name of Schiavoni, deriving from the Italian name for Slavs. Although born on the eastern shore of the Adriatic, their lives and work were associated with Italy.
In addition to the paintings in the gallery, the Academy building also houses the Baška Tablet (''Bašćanska ploča''), the oldest known example of Glagolitic script, dating from 1102. A large statue of Bishop Strossmayer by
Ivan Meštrović
Ivan Meštrović (; 15 August 1883 – 16 January 1962) was a Croatian and Yugoslav sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pa ...
File:Jan de Cock Strossmayer.jpg, ''The Birth of Christ'' by
Jan Wellens de Cock
Jan Wellens de Cock or Jan de Cock (c. 1460/1480 – in or before 1521) was a Flemish painting, Flemish painter, Woodblock printing, woodblock artist and drawing, draftsman of the Northern Renaissance active in Antwerp.Federico Bencovich, 1715
File:Albertinelli, The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, ca. 1514, oil on panel, 56.8 x 55 cm. Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters, HAZU, Zagreb, Bequest Josip Juraj Strossmayer 1884, SG-95.jpg, ''The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise'', Mariotto Albertinelli, 1514
File:Joachim Patinir - Landscape with the Rest on the Flight - WGA17095.jpg, ''Landscape with the Rest on the Flight'',
Joachim Patinir
Joachim Patinir, also called Patenier ( – 5 October 1524), was a Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, Flemish Renaissance painter of History painting, history and Landscape painting, landscape subjects. He was Flanders, Flemish, from the ar ...
, 1750s
File:Throne of Mercy - Master of the Virgo inter Virgines.jpg, ''Throne of Mercy'', Master of the Virgo inter Virgines, 1485–1495
File:Angelico - Stigmatizacija svetoga Franje Asiškoga i smrt svetoga Petra Mučenika, 1430.-1440.jpg, ''Stigmatization of St Francis of Assisi and Death of St Peter the Martyr'',
Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico, O.P. (; ; born Guido di Pietro; 18 February 1455) was a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Giorgio Vasari in his ''Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent" ...
, 1395–1455
File:Carpaccio - Trittico di Santa Fosca, San Pietro Martire, Museo Correr, Venezia San Sebastiano, Strossmayerova Galerija Starih Majstora, Zagabria San Rocco. Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.jpg, ''Trittico di Santa Fosca, San Pietro Martire, Museo Correr, Venezia San Sebastiano'',
Vittore Carpaccio
Vittore Carpaccio ( , , ; – ) was an Italian painter of the Venetian School (art), Venetian school who studied under Gentile Bellini. Carpaccio was largely influenced by the style of the early Italian Renaissance painter Antonello da Messina ...
, 15th–16th century
File:Antoine-Jean Gros - Portrait of Madame Récamier - WGA10707.jpg, ''Portrait of Madame Récamier'', Antoine-Jean Gros, 1825
See also
*
Modern Gallery, Zagreb
Modern Gallery (; since 2021 the National Museum of Modern Art, ) is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia that holds the most important and comprehensive collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings by 19th and 20th century Croatian artists. The colle ...
*
Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
The Museum of Contemporary Art (, often abbreviated to MSU) is a contemporary art art museum, museum located on Dubrovnik Avenue in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the biggest and most modern museum in the country. Vesna Meštrić is current director of MS ...
