Art of Croatia
Encyclopedia
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
from medieval times to the present. In Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
, Croatia was an important centre for art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
in south eastern Europe. There were many Croatian artists during the Medieval period, and the arts flourished during the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
. Later styles in Croatia included Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
and Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
.
Prehistoric Art
Ancient monuments from Palaeolithic times are very poor and consist mainly of simple stone and bone objects.Ancient inhabitants of Mediterranean cultures on the coast and those of Pannonian cultures in the continental area were developing Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
cultures in the boundaries of present day Republic of Croatia. Neolithic is marked by the production of ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
s and sculptures with human and animal themes reduced to a symbolic art form. The most investigated are listed chronologically:
- Starčević culture (Pannonian culture named after its founder archaeologist Starčević) had characteristically fine red and ochre ceramics.
- Istrian culture (named after peninsula IstriaIstriaIstria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
in Croatia) which characteristic is stone houses (Bunja) without any type of bounding material, natively called dry-wall building (suhozid). These types of houses have staid in use until 19th century for shepherds. - Sopot culture and Korenovo culture (named after towns of Sopot and Korenovo in SlavoniaSlavoniaSlavonia is a geographical and historical region in eastern Croatia...
) with original ceramic pots decorated with flat parallel lines, curves or v-shaped cuts. - Danilo culture (found on Adriatic coast and islands) was rich with fine dark ceramics decorated with engraved geometrical motifs, spirals and meanders. Out of this culture sprung Hvar culture (after large island of Hvar) that is linked with Neolithic GreekGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
cultures.
There are also Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
excavation sites in Ščitarjevo near Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, Nakovanj on the Pelješac
Pelješac
Pelješac is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia...
peninsula and elsewhere.
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
or Eneolithic finds are from Vučedol culture (named after Vučedol near Vukovar
Vukovar
Vukovar is a city in eastern Croatia, and the biggest river port in Croatia located at the confluence of the Vuka river and the Danube. Vukovar is the center of the Vukovar-Syrmia County...
). Ceramics are of extraordinaire quality with black color, high glow and specific decorative geometrical cuts that were incrust with white, red or yellow color. Sculptures are few, but very skilfully done and very expressive (like pot in shape of Dove with engraved double axe – labrys). People were living on hilltops with palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
walls. Houses were half buried, mostly square or circular (they were also combined in mushroom shape), with floor of burned clay and circular fireplace.
Out of that culture sprung out Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
Vinkovci culture (named after city of Vinkovci
Vinkovci
Vinkovci is a city in Croatia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County. In the 2011 census, the total population of the city was 35,375, making it the largest town of the county...
) that is recognizable by bronze fibulas that were replacing objects like needles and buttons.
Bronze culture of Illyrians
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited part of the western Balkans in antiquity and the south-eastern coasts of the Italian peninsula...
, ethnic group with distinct culture and art form started to organize itself on today’s Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 7th century BC bronze is replaced by iron, and only jewellery and art objects were still made out of bronze. Illyrian tribes, under the influence of Halstat cultures from north, form their regional centers that were slightly different.
Very important role in their life was the cult of the dead, which is seen in their careful burials and burial ceremonies, as well as richness of the burial cites. In northern parts there was long tradition of cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
and burial in shallow graves, while in the south the dead are buried in large stone, or earth tumuli (natively called – gromile).
Japod tribes have had affinity for decoration with heavy, oversized necklaces out of yellow, blue or white glass paste, and large bronze fibulas, as well as spiral bracelets, diadems
Diadems
The Diadems was one of the bands created by the 3rd French season of the popular reality show show "Popstars", called "Popstars - the Duel" aired on RTL Group TV channel Métropole 6 in fall 2003...
and helmets made out of bronze. Small sculptures out of jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
in form of archaic
Archaic period in Greece
The Archaic period in Greece was a period of ancient Greek history that followed the Greek Dark Ages. This period saw the rise of the polis and the founding of colonies, as well as the first inklings of classical philosophy, theatre in the form of tragedies performed during Dionysia, and written...
Ionian
Ionians
The Ionians were one of the four major tribes into which the Classical Greeks considered the population of Hellenes to have been divided...
plastic are also characteristically Japodian. Numerous monumental sculptures are preserved, as well as walls of citadel
Citadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
Nezakcij near Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
, one of numerous Istrian cities from Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
.
In 4th century BC first outbreak of Celts is recorded; they have brought technique of pottery wheel, new types of fibulas and different bronze and iron belts. They only passed on their way to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, so their influence in Slavonia, Istria and Dalmatia is negligible.
In delta of Neretva on the south there was important influence of Hellenistic Illyrian tribe of Daors.
Illyrians even conquered Greek colonies on Dalmatian islands. Famous is the queen Teuta of Issa (today island of Vis
Vis (island)
Vis is the most outerly lying larger Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, and is part of the Central Dalmatian group of islands, with an area of 90.26 km² and a population of 3,617 . Of all the inhabited Croatian islands, it is the farthest from the coast...
) which waged wars with Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. But finally, Romans subdued Illyrians in 1st century BC, and after that the history of these parts is a history of Illyrian provinces
Illyrian provinces
The Illyrian Provinces was an autonomous province of the Napoleonic French Empire on the north and east coasts of the Adriatic Sea between 1809 and 1816. Its capital was established at Laybach...
of Rome
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and Byzantium
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
Antiquity
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
sailors and merchants have reached almost every part of Mediterranean and so on the shores of today’s Croatia. Greeks from Syracuse in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
in 390 BC came to islands of Vis (Issa), Hvar
Hvar
- Climate :The climate of Hvar is characterized by mild winters and warm summers. The yearly average air temperature is , 686 mm of precipitation fall on the town of Hvar on average every year and the town has a total of 2800 sunshine hours per year. For comparison Hvar has an average of 7.7...
(Pharos) and Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
(Corcyra Nigra) and there have founded city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
s in which they lived quite isolated. Trade cities on Adriatic shores as Tragurion (today Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
), Salona (Solin near Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
), Epetion (today Stobreč
Stobrec
Stobreč is a historical town, now village in Croatia located near Split and Solin. In modern times, Stobreč is considered a desirable vacation/camping spot located on a beautiful scenic peninsula ensconced between the Adriatic Sea and pine woods. Population: approximately 4,700...
), Issa (Vis), were geometrically shaped and had villas
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
, harbours, public buildings, temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
s and theatres. Pharos and Issa were strong Greek centers that showed their independence with their own money and marital fleet. Unfortunately, beside painted pots and ceramic tanagra
Tanagra
Tanagra is a town and a municipality north of Athens in Boeotia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Schimatari. It is not far from Thebes, and it was noted in antiquity for the figurines named after it...
sculptures, there are only few materials founding of this culture. One of those is: Croatian Apoxyomenos, Bronze head of goddess Artemis from Issa, 4th century BC; and stone relief of Kairos (god of happy moment) - from Tragurion, 3rd century BC, associated to famous Greek sculptor Lysippos
Lysippos
Lysippos was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic period. Problems confront the study of Lysippos because of the difficulty of...
.
While the Greek colonies were flourishing on the island, on the continent the Illyrians were organizing their centers. Their art was greatly influenced by Greek art, and they have even copied some.
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
subdued Greek colonial cities in 3rd century BC. They have imposed organization based on military-economical system. Further more, Romans subdued Illyrians in 1st century BC and organized the entire coastal territory by transforming citadels to urban cities. After that the history of these parts is a history of Illyrian provinces of Roman Empire.
Numerous rustical villas, and new urban settlements (the most impressive are Verige in Brijuni
Brijuni
The Brijuni or the Brijuni Islands are a group of fourteen small islands in the Croatian part of the northern Adriatic Sea, separated from the west coast of the Istrian peninsula by the narrow Fažana Strait...
, Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
and Trogir - formerly Tragurion) demonstrate high level of Roman urbanization
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
. There have been at least thirty urban cities in Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, Liburnia
Liburnia
Liburnia in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC...
and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
with Roman citizenship (civitas
Civitas
In the history of Rome, the Latin term civitas , according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the cives, or citizens, united by law . It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities on the one hand and rights of citizenship on the other...
). The best-preserved nets of Roman streets (decumanus/cardo) are those in Epetion (Poreč) and Jader (Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
).
The most entirely preserved Roman monuments are in Pola (Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
); founded in 1st century dedicated to Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, it is full with classical Roman art
Roman art
Roman art has the visual arts made in Ancient Rome, and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Major forms of Roman art are architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work...
as: stonewalls, two city gates, two temples on Forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
, and remains of two theatres, as well as the Arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
from year 30 AD, and the temple of August build in years 2 to 14 AD, and finally the Fluvian Amphitheatre
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre is an open-air venue used for entertainment and performances.There are two similar, but distinct, types of structure for which the word "amphitheatre" is used: Ancient Roman amphitheatres were large central performance spaces surrounded by ascending seating, and were commonly used...
(so called – Arena
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
) from 2nd century.
In 3rd century AD the city of Salona becomes the largest (it had 40 000 inhabitants) and most important city of Dalmatia. Near the city emperor Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244 – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....
, born in Salona, build the Palace (around year 300 AD), which is largest and most important monument of late antique architecture in the World. On its pathways, cellar
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
s, dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
s, mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
s, arcade
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
s and courtyards one can trace numerous different art influences from the entire Empire.
Some of the sculptures are: the head of a boy, girl and a woman from Salona, monumental figure of Minerva from Varaždin
Varaždin
Varaždin is a city in north Croatia, north of Zagreb on the highway A4. The total population is 47,055, with 38,746 on of the city settlement itself . The centre of Varaždin county is located near the Drava river, at...
, the head of Hercules from Sinj
Sinj
Sinj is a town in the continental part of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia. The town itself has a population of 11,448, while the population of the administrative municipality which includes surrounding villages is 24,832 ....
, sculptures of Roman emperors from Nin
Nin, Croatia
Nin is a town in the Zadar county of Croatia, population 1,256 , total municipality population 4,603 .Nin was historically important as a centre of a Christian Bishopric in the Middle Ages. Up to the abolition and Latinization imposed by King Tomislav in the first half of the 10th century, Nin was...
and Vid near Metković
Metkovic
Metković is a city in the Dubrovnik-Neretva county of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Herzegovina.-Demographics:...
, damaged sculpture of emperor in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
Museum etc.
In the 4th century Salona became the center of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
for entire western Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
. It had numerous basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
s and necropolises, and even two saints: Domnius (Duje
Duje
Saint Domnius was a 3rd century Bishop of Salona. Salona was a large Roman city serving as capital of the Province of Dalmatia. Today it is located near the city of Split in modern Croatia...
) and Anastasius
Anastasius the Fuller
Saint Anastasius the Fuller is a Christian saint of the Catholic Church. Anastasius was a fuller at Aquileia who subsequently moved his business to Solin ....
(Staš).
One of few preserved basilicas in western Europe (beside ones in Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
) from the time of early Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
is Euphrasian Basilica
Euphrasian Basilica
The Euphrasian Basilica is a basilica in Poreč, Croatia. The episcopal complex, including, apart the basilica itself, a sacristy, a baptistery and the bell tower of the nearby archbishop's palace, is one of the best examples of early Byzantine architecture in the Mediterranean region.The...
in Poreč
Porec
Poreč is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th century Euphrasian Basilica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997....
from 6th century.
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
and this period was perhaps a Dark Age in the cultural sense until the successful formation of the Slavic states which coexisted with Italic cities that remained on the coast, each of them were modelled like Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
.
First Croatian Art Of Early Middle Ages
The term Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, in Western Europe, designates the period following the decline of the Roman Empire through the 13th century. Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
(Pre-Romanesque) covers the time from seventh to the end of the 10th century.
In the 7th century the Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
, with other Slavs and Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
, came from Northern Europe to the region where they live today. They were on the level of Iron Age nomadic culture, so they did not know how to enjoy the advantages of urban cities. That’s why they first inhabited city boundaries on close by rivers (like Jadro near Roman Salona
Salona
Salona was an ancient Illyrian Delmati city in the first millennium BC. The Greeks had set up an emporion there. After the conquest by the Romans, Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia...
).
The Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...
were open to Roman art
Roman art
Roman art has the visual arts made in Ancient Rome, and in the territories of the Roman Empire. Major forms of Roman art are architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work...
and culture, and first of all to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. First churches were built as royal sanctuaries, and influences of Roman art was strongest in Dalmatia where urbanization was thickest, and there was largest number of monuments. Gradually that influence was neglected and certain simplification, alteration of inherited forms and even creation of original buildings appeared. All of them (dozen large ones and hundred of small ones) were built with roughly cut stone (natively called – lomljenac) bounded with thick layer of "malter" from outside.
Large churches are longitudinal with one or three naves
Navès
Navès is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.-Geography:The Thoré forms most of the commune's north-eastern border, then flows into the Agout, which forms part of its northern border.-References:*...
like the Church of Holy Salvation on spring of river Cetina
Cetina
Cetina is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . Cetina descends from an altitude of 385 m at its source to the sea level when it flows into the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia....
and the Church of Saint Cross
Church of Saint Cross
Church of the Holy Cross , also known as "the smallest cathedral in the world", is a Croatian Pre-Romanesque Catholic church originating from the 9th century in Nin...
near Nin, both built in the 9th century. The latter has strong semi-circular buttresses that give a feeling of fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
, emphasized with mighty bell-tower positioned in front of the entrance.
Smaller churches are interestingly shaped (mainly central) with several apses. The largest and most complicated central based church from 9th century is St Donatus in Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
. Around its circular centre – with dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
above – is nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
in shape of ring with three apses directed to east; that shape is followed on second floor forming a gallery
Long gallery
Long gallery is an architectural term given to a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In British architecture, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were often located on the upper floor of the great houses of the time, and stretched across the entire...
. From those times, with its size and beauty one can only compare the chapel of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
in Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
.
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
fence and windows of those churches were highly decorated with transparent shallow string-like ornament
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
that is called pleter (commonly embraced as "Croatian wattle
Croatian wattle
The Croatian wattle, known as the pleter or troplet in Croatian, is a type of interlace, most characteristic for its three-ribbon pattern. It is one of the most often used patterns of pre-romanesque Croatian art...
", meaning to weed) because the strings were threaded and rethreaded through itself.
Soon, the "glagolic" writings were replaced with Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
on altar fences and architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
s of old-Croatian churches. Those inscriptions usually mention to whom the church was dedicated, who build it and when it was built, as well who produced the building. That was the way that “barbarian newcomers” could fit amongst the Romanised natives.
From Crown Church of King Zvonimir (so called Hollow Church in Solin) comes the altar board with figure of Croatian King on the throne with Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
crown, servant by his side and subject bowed to the king. Linear cuts representing lines on the robes are similar to lines on their frontal faces, and also on those of a frame. Today the board is a part of Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
baptistery
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
.
Out of artistically applied objects there are many reliquaries preserved. They were adored and believed to have magical powers of healing. They were usually shaped as the part of body that was in them. That’s why the relic of Saint James's head in Zadar is shaped in form of a head; the tube part has section with stream of arcades with single saint in every one, while a dome-like cover is decorated with medallions bearing symbols of evangelist and Christ on the top.
By joining the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
state in the 12th century, Croatia lost its independence, but it did not lose its ties with the south and the west, and instead this ensured the beginning of a new era of Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
an cultural influence.
Romanesque Art
Romanesque art
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
appeared in Croatia at the beginning of 11th century with strong development of monasteries and reform of the church. In that period many valuable monuments and artefacts were made. They can be found mainly alongside Croatian coast and nearby lands: Istria, Dalmatia, and Primorje; while artefacts and monuments from Croatian north are scarce.
In 11th century the monumental cities were built along the entire Dalmatian coast. Houses were out of stone, on ground floor there were shops or dinners (natively – konoba) like in cities as: Poreč
Porec
Poreč is a town and municipality on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, in Istria County, Croatia. Its major landmark is the 6th century Euphrasian Basilica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997....
, Rab
Rab
Rab is an island in Croatia and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.The island is long, has an area of and 9,480 inhabitants . The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters...
, Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
, Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
and Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
.
In them the most important buildings were churches. They were commonly stone-built basilicas with three naves, three apses, columns, arches, arcades and wooden roofs; build near monasteries of Benedictian
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
monks who came out of Italy. St. Peter in Supetarska Draga on island of Rab (11th century) is best-preserved church of that type in Croatia. On the same island is Cathedral of Rab (12th century) that has high-Romanesque bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
, largest in Dalmatia. It is specific with its openings, which are multiplied as one goes higher floor by floor (Latin: mono-fore, bi-fore, tri-fore, quadro-fore); typical for Romanesque, but also architecturally smart because it makes every next floor a bit lighter than the preceding one.
Cathedral of St. Anastasia, Zadar
Cathedral of St. Anastasia, Zadar
The Cathedral of St. Anastasia is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Zadar, Croatia. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Zadar.Today's cathedral was built in the Romanesque style. It is the largest church in all of Dalmatia...
(natively - St. Stošija) in Zadar (13th century) is marked outside by a string of blind arch-niche
Niche (architecture)
A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
s on both sides and on frontal side where it also has two Rose window
Rose window
A Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in churches of the Gothic architectural style and being divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery...
s with radial columns and three portals. Inside it has three naves, slim columns that are supporting a gallery
Long gallery
Long gallery is an architectural term given to a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In British architecture, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were often located on the upper floor of the great houses of the time, and stretched across the entire...
, and flat figurative reliefs.
The best examples of Romanesque sculpture are: wooden doors of Split cathedral done by Andrija Buvina
Andrija Buvina
Andrija Buvina was a 13th century medieval Croatian sculptor and painter. His work is often associated with the Romanesque period.Actually, the best example of Romanesque sculpture in Croatia are the wooden doors on Cathedral of St. Duje in Split, done by Andrija Buvina c. 1214...
(c.1220) and Stone portal of Trogir cathedral done by artisan Radovan (c. 1240).
Main portal of Trogir cathedral, done by artisan Radovan, is the greatest and the most important monument of medieval sculpture, not only in Croatia but also in all Balkans. It consists out of four parts: surrounding, on door jamb, are naked sculptures of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
on both sides, carried by lions; and inside are numerous reliefs with every-day scenes organized in monthly calendar, and scenes from hunting; and finally in the middle are scenes from the life of Christ: from Annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
to Resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
– positioned in arches around tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
. Finally, in tympanum is the Birth of Christ. The way the figures are formed is very realistic, calling on new gothic humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
, on the trail of the highest achievements of French sculpture (of that in Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
). Radovan is oriented toward human counterpart in art; best seen in selection of main scene in the tympanum – instead of usual Romanesque motif of Last Judgement he had chosen The Nativity.
Romanesque painting is on walls, on board and in books – illumination
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
. Early fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es are numerous and best preserved in Istria. The mixing of influences of Eastern and Western Europe is evidenced on them, for example: flat, linear drapes and round red circles on their cheeks.
Paintings on board are usually Madonna with Child and painted Crucifixion
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
s. The oldest miniature
Miniature (illuminated manuscript)
The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
s are from 13th century – Evangelical book from Split and Trogir.
Gothic Art
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
art in 14th century was supported by culture of cities councils, preaching orders (like Franciscans), and knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ly culture. It was the golden age of free Dalmatian cities that were trading with Croatian feudal nobility in the continent. Urban organization and evolution of Dalmatian cities can be followed through developing and expanding of Rab
Rab
Rab is an island in Croatia and a town of the same name located just off the northern Croatian coast in the Adriatic Sea.The island is long, has an area of and 9,480 inhabitants . The highest peak is Kamenjak at 408 meters...
and Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
, regulation of streets in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
and integration of Split
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
. It is also a time of paving the streets with stone, sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
canals and communal facilities.
Largest urban project of those times was complete building of two new towns – Small and Large Ston
Ston
Ston is a village and municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located at the south of isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula. The town of Ston is the center of the Ston municipality.- Demographics :...
, and about a kilometre of wall with guard towers between them (14th century). After Hadrian's wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the longest wall in Europe. That way all of Pelješac
Pelješac
Pelješac is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia...
peninsula was surrounded and protected from land shore whit aim to protect the most valuable possession of Republic of Dubrovnik – salt from Ston.
Gothic fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
can be recognized with its high towers in shape of square prism from simple Romanesque one, or round Renaissance one. The best-preserved ones in Croatia are in Istria (Hum
Hum, Croatia
Hum is a town in the central part of Istria, northwest Croatia, 7 km from Roč, 14 km southeast of Buzet on a hill above the Mirna valley. The elevation of the town is 349 m...
, Bale, Motovun
Motovun
Motovun is a village in central Istria, Croatia. The population of the village itself is 531, with a total of 983 residents in the municipality ; 442 of the residents have Italian as their mother language...
, Labin
Labin
Labin is a town in Istria, Croatia, with a town population of 6,884 and 11,703 in the greater municipality ....
etc.) and those on north (Medvedgrad above Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
from year 1260) or on the south Sokolac in Lika
Lika
Lika is a mountainous region in central Croatia, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by the Malovan pass...
(14th century).
Franciscan church in Pula (1285) is the most representative example of Early Gothic. Simple one nave building with wooden rib-vault ceiling, with square apse and high stain windows was built from 13th to 15th century.
Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
destroyed Romanesque cathedral in Zagreb during their scourge in 1240, but right after their departure Zagreb got the title of a free city from Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
king Bela IV. Soon after bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Timotej began to rebuild the cathedral in new Gothic style. Building with three naves, polygonal apses and rib-vault had Romanesque round towers. The naves were built in 14th century, and the vault was finished in 15th. With the arrival of Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 16th century high walls and towers surrounded it. Only one tower was finished in 17th century, while in 18th the Baroque roof became the landmark of entire city. With the restoration in 19th century in Neo-gothic style it lost former harmony.
During the 14th century, the Split cathedral of St Duje and cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
of Franciscan monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
were also build.
Early Gothic sculpture is represented by already mentioned Radovan’s Portal in Trogir
Trogir
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 12,995 and a total municipality population of 13,322 . The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo...
.
The Church of St Mark in Zagreb was built in 14th and 15th century in Late Gothic style. In that manner was also the main portal with portraits of St Mark, Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, Madonna
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
and 12 apostles with slightly rounded heads and softly drapes on their clothes. Originally the entire portal was vividly coloured as can be seen by the remains of colours on wooden figures.
In those days, Zadar
Zadar
Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens...
was an independent Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
city. The most beautiful examples of gothic humanism in Zadar are reliefs in gilded metal as in Arc of St Simon by artisan from Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in 1380. On the arc, by the scenes of saints’ life (finding of the body in monastery’s cluster, saving the ship in storm etc.) there are historical ones as entering of Hungarian king Ludovik in Zadar or the oat of his wife Jelena Kotromanić of Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
over the saints’ grave.
Gothic painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
is less preserved, and finest works are in Istria as fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
-cycle of Vincent from Kastv in Church of Holy Mary in Škriljinah near Beram, from 1474. Characters are tangible, three-dimensional in illusion of space. By the scenes from the life of Christ there is also The March of the Dead (The Dance of Death), which is humanistic, late gothic theme, very popular in Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
.
Paolo Veneziano
Paolo Veneziano
Paolo Veneziano, also Veneziano Paolo or Paolo da Venezia was a medieval painter from Venice. He has been called "the most important Venetian painter of the 14thcentury"....
was the greatest painter of the Adriatic in the 14th century. His works were mixture of Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
and gothic idealisation. He worked on the icons in Krk, Rab, Zadar, and Trogir. In Dubrovnik he has done a masterpiece - Dubrovnik Crucifixion.
From that times are the two of the best and most decorated illuminated
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
liturgies done by monks from Split, – Hvals’ Zbornik (today in Zagreb) and Misal of Bosnian duke Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić (now in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
).
Renaissance
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Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, Dalmatia was under the rule of Venetian Republic (with exception of Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
) and Slavonia was under Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
occupation.
Dalmatia was on the periphery of several influences, just as far from Italy as from Ottomans in Bosnia and Austrians in the north, so it thrived from all. In those circumstances in Dalmatia flourished religious and public architecture with clear influence of Italian renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
, but still original. Three works out of that period are of European importance, and will contribute to further development of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
: Cathedral of St James in Šibenik, Chapel of Blessed John in Trogir, and Sorkočević’s villa in Dubrovnik.
Only in the kind of environment, free of dogmas and self-governed - far of major governing centers, could it be possible for artisan known as Juraj Dalmatinac to build a church entirely by his own project – Cathedral of St. James
Cathedral of St. James, Šibenik
The Cathedral of St. James inŠibenik, Croatia is a triple-nave basilica with three apses and a dome in the city of Šibenik, Croatia. It is the church of the Catholic Church in Croatia, and the see of the Šibenik diocese. It is also the most important architectural monument of the Renaissance in...
in Šibenik
Šibenik
Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
, in 1441. Besides mixing of gothic and renaissance style it was also original by unity of stone building and montage construction (big stone blocks, pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s and ribs were bounded with joints and slots on them - without concrete) in the way that was usual in wooden constructions. This was unique building with so-called three-leaf frontal and half-barrel vaults, first in Europe. The cathedral and its original stone dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
was finished by Nikola Firentinac
Nikola Firentinac
Niccolò Fiorentino ; , was a Dalmatian Renaissance sculptor and master architect. He was of Tuscan birth, but lived most of his life and conducted much of his work in Venice, Šibenik and other towns of Dalmatia.He is best known by his work on the Cathedral of St.James in Šibenik, in 1455...
following the original plans of Juraj.
On the cathedral there is a coronal of 72 sculpture portraits on the outside wall of the apses. Juraj himself did 40 of them, and all are unique with original characteristics on their faces.
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
of blessed John of Trogir. Surrounding are reliefs of putto
Putto
A putto is a figure of an infant often depicted as a young male. Putti are defined as chubby, winged or wingless, male child figure in nude. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical...
s carrying torches that look like they were peeping out of doors of Underworld. Above them there are niches with sculptures of Christ and apostles, amongst them are putties, circular windows encircled with fruit garland, and a relief of Nativity
Nativity of Jesus in art
The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century. The artistic depictions of the Nativity or birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, are based on the narratives in the Bible, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and further elaborated by written, oral and...
. All is ceiled with coffered ceiling with image of God in the middle and 96 portrait heads of angels. With so many faces of smiling children the chapel looks very cheerful and there is not anything similar in European art of that time.
In the entire area of Republic of Dubrovnik there were numerous villas
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
of nobility, unique by their functionality and space organization - combination of renaissance villa and government building. Sorkočević’s villa in Lapad near Dubrovnik in 1521 is original by order of building parts in asymmetrical, dynamical balance.
.jpg)
Split (city)
Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
cathedral. Three almost naked figures are caught in vibrant movement.
The most important Croatian renaissance painters are from Dubrovnik: Lovro Dobričević
Lovro Dobričević
Lovro Dobričević was a Croatian painter active primarily in Dubrovnik. He studied art in Venice before returning to Dubrovnik to work...
, Mihajlo Hamzić and Nikola Božidarević
Nikola Božidarevic
Nikola Božidarević or Nicola Ragusei, was a Croatian painter active in the Republic of Ragusa . He is the most important Croatian artist of the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century.-Life:...
. They painted the altar screens with first hints of portraits in characters, linear perspective and even still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
motifs
In north western Croatia, the beginning of the wars with the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
caused many problems but in the long term it both reinforced the northern influence (by having the Austrians
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
as the rulers).
With permanent danger by Ottomans from east, there was modest influence of renaissance, while fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s thrived. The plan for fortified city of Karlovac
Karlovac
Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...
in 1579 was first entirely new urban city to be built by renaissance plans (so called “ideal city” plan) in Europe. It was built in radial plan, later common in Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
.
Renaissance fort of Ratkay family in Veliki Tabor from 16th century has mixed features of gothic architecture (high roofs) and renaissance (cluster and round towers) making it an example of mannerism.
Francesco Laurana
Francesco Laurana, also known as Francesco de la Vrana was a Dalmatian-born sculptor and medallist. He is considered as both Croatian and Italian sculptor.-Life and works:...
and Luka
Luciano Laurana
Luciano Laurana was a Croatian or Italian architect and engineer from the historic Vrana settlement near the town of Zadar in Dalmatia, Croatia. After education by his father Martin in Vrana settlement, he worked mostly in Italy during the late 15th century...
), miniaturist Juraj Klović (also known as Giulio Clovio) and famous mannerist painter Andrija Medulić (teacher of El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
).
Baroque and Rococo
In 17th and 18th century Croatia was reunited with the parts of country that were occupied by Venetian Republic and Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The unity attributed to sudden flourishing of Art in every segment.
In northern Croatia and Slavonia sprung out numerous and worthy works of baroque art – from urban plans and large forts to churches, palaces, public buildings and monuments, all were done in Baroque style.
Large fortifications with radial plan, ditches and numerous towers were built because of constant Ottoman threat. The two largest ones were Osijek
Osijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
and Slavonski Brod
Slavonski Brod
Slavonski Brod is a city in Croatia, with a population of 59,507 in 2011. The city was known as Marsonia in the Roman Empire, and as Brod na Savi 1244–1934. It is the sixth largest city in Croatia, after Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Zadar. Located in the region of Slavonia, it is the...
. Later they become large cities. They were fortified with water and earth – earth mounds with cannons and canals filled with water that was supposed to slow dawn the approaching enemies.
The fort of Slavonski Brod was the largest in all Croatia, and one of the largest ones in entire Europe because it was bounding fort of Europe toward Ottoman Empire.
Urban planning of Baroque is felt in numerous new towns like Karlovac
Karlovac
Karlovac is a city and municipality in central Croatia. The city proper has a population of 49,082, while the municipality has a population of 59,395 inhabitants .Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County...
, Bjelovar
Bjelovar
Bjelovar is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. During the 2001 census, there were 41,869 inhabitants, 90.51% which are Croats....
, Koprivnica
Koprivnica
Koprivnica is a city in northern Croatia. It is the capital of the Koprivnica-Križevci county. In 2011 the city administrative area had a total population of 30,872, with 23,896 in the city itself.-Population:...
, Virovitica
Virovitica
Virovitica is a Croatian town near the Croatian-Hungarian border. It is situated near the Drava river and belongs to the historic region of Slavonia. Virovitica has a population of 14,663, with 21,327 people in the municipality...
etc. that had large straight streets, rectangular squares
Town square
A town square is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings. Other names for town square are civic center, city square, urban square, market square, public square, and town green.Most town squares are hardscapes suitable for open markets,...
in the middle surrounded with buildings as government and military ones as well as representative church.
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
, Šibenik
Šibenik
Šibenik is a historic town in Croatia, with population of 51,553 . It is located in central Dalmatia where the river Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea...
or Hvar
Hvar
- Climate :The climate of Hvar is characterized by mild winters and warm summers. The yearly average air temperature is , 686 mm of precipitation fall on the town of Hvar on average every year and the town has a total of 2800 sunshine hours per year. For comparison Hvar has an average of 7.7...
. But biggest baroque undertaking happened in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...
in 17th century after catastrophic earthquake in 1667 when almost entire city was destroyed. In Baroque style were rebuilt the church of St Vlaho on the main square (1715), Main Cathedral and Jesuit monastery with church of St Ignatius
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
. Paolo Passalaqua united several of those baroque masterpieces with his Jesuit Stairway. That beautiful wide stone stairway with series of convexities and concavities and strong balustrade (reminiscent of famous Spain Stairway Square in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
) actually connected two separate baroque parts of the city - the Jesuit church above and Ivan Gundulić
Ivan Gundulic
Ivan Franov Gundulić is the most celebrated Croatian Baroque poet from the Republic of Ragusa. His work embodies central characteristics of Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation: religious fervor, insistence on "vanity of this world" and zeal in opposition to "infidels." Gundulić's major...
Square below.
During the Baroque numerous churches, enchanting us with their size and form were built in all Croatia, thus becoming a crown in every town or a city.
The monastery churches often had an enclosing wall with inner porch
Porch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
es lavishly decorated, like in Franciscan monastery in Slavonski Brod
Slavonski Brod
Slavonski Brod is a city in Croatia, with a population of 59,507 in 2011. The city was known as Marsonia in the Roman Empire, and as Brod na Savi 1244–1934. It is the sixth largest city in Croatia, after Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek and Zadar. Located in the region of Slavonia, it is the...
where the columns are as thick as baroque abundance.
The most beautiful one is probably the church in Selima near Sisak
Sisak
Sisak is a city in central Croatia. The city's population in 2011 was 33,049, with a total of 49,699 in the administrative region and it is also the administrative centre of the Sisak-Moslavina county...
. It has oval shape with elliptic dome and concave and convex front with two according towers. But most luxuriant is church of Maria of the Snow in Belec from 1740 with entire interior filled with lively gilded wooden sculptures, frescoes of painter Ivan Ranger
Ivan Ranger
Ivan Krstitelj Ranger was a baroque painter.-Career:Ranger entered the Paulist monastic order as a child. He started to paint very early and in its artistic workshops in northern Italy and southern Germany...
from Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. Ranger was classic Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
painter whose characters were softly painted in graceful positions and optimism of cheerful colors. He also lavishly painted the gothic church in Lepoglava
Lepoglava
Lepoglava is a town in Varaždin County, northern Croatia, located southwest of Varaždin, west of Ivanec and northeast of Krapina.A total of 8,271 people in the municipality lives in the following settlements:* Bednjica, population 214...
, and ceiling of Banqueting Hall of Bistra Palace (one of most beautiful elliptic plans in profane architecture).
Wall painting experienced flourishing in all parts of Croatia, from illusionist frescoes in church of Holy Mary in Samobor
Samobor
Samobor is a town in the Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area.-Geography:Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samoborsko gorje , in the Sava River valley.-Population:...
, St Catherine
Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
in Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
to Jesuit church in Dubrovnik. Best preserved ones are Rococo frescoes in Miljana mansion where allegorical seasons and natural elements were depicted through human nature and his reflection on art.
An exchange of artists between Croatia and other parts of Europe happened. The most famous Croatian painter was Federiko Benković
Federiko Benkovic
Federiko Benković was a prominent late Baroque painter. He is best known as Federico Bencovich or Federico Bencovic, but also as Federigo or Federighetto or Dalmatino....
who worked almost his entire life in Italy, while an Italian – Francesco Robba
Francesco Robba
Francesco Robba was an Italian sculptor of the Baroque period. Even while he is regarded as the leading Baroque sculptor of marble statues in the south-east Central Europe, he has remained practically unknown to the international scholarly public.-Life:Francesco Robba was born in Venice...
, did the best Baroque sculptures in Croatia. His most beautiful and moving work is marble altar of Crucifixion in Church of Holy Cross in Križevci. Beside masterly carved body of Christ there is a theme of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
’s Sacrifice; it is diagonal composition in anxious tension with several movements of limbs and drapes.
The Nineteenth Century
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n countries on the beginning of 19th century (to which Croatia belonged than) building in Classicistic Manner prevailed. In Croatia most prominent architect was Bartol Felbinger who also built City Hall in Samobor
Samobor
Samobor is a town in the Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area.-Geography:Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samoborsko gorje , in the Sava River valley.-Population:...
(1826) and Januševac Castle near Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
.
Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
movement in Croatia was sentimental, gentle and subtle – real image of bourgeoisie’s humble and modest virtues. In architecture there were simple decorations made of shallow arch like niches around windows, while the furniture was of mildly bended Biedermeier
Biedermeier
In Central Europe, the Biedermeier era refers to the middle-class sensibilities of the historical period between 1815, the year of the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions...
furniture, and even in dressing the cheaper materials with cheerful colors prevailed. So, it is no surprise that instead of representative portraits in Croatia miniature
Miniature (illuminated manuscript)
The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
portraits are preferred.
At the end of 19th century architect Hermann Bolle
Hermann Bollé
Hermann Bollé was an Austrian architect specialized in Church architecture who worked in Croatia.Bollé was born in Köln. He worked on the Cathedral in Đakovo, restored the Zagreb cathedral after the 1880 earthquake, restored Križevci cathedral from 1895-1897, designed the main building of the...
undertook one of the largest projects of European historicism – a half-kilometre long neo-renaissance arcade with twenty domes on Zagreb cemetery Mirogoj.
At the same time the cities in Croatia got important urban makeover. But whit size and importance the urban regulation of Downtown Zagreb (largely the work of Milan Lenuzzio, 1860–1880) is revolutionary. Between Zagreb’s longest street – Ilica
Ilica (street)
Ilica street is one of the longest streets in Zagreb and considered to be the most expensive residential street in the city. The busy street is home to many shops and cultural sites and spans the entire western half of the city, from the Ban Jelačić Square in the city centre up to the Črnomerec...
, and new railway the new geometrical city was built with large public and social buildings like neo-renaissance building of Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the national academy of Croatia. It was founded in 1866 as the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts , and was known by that name for most of its existence.- History :...
(HAZU - learned society promoting language, culture, and science from its first conception in 1836; the juxtaposition of the words typically seen in English as "Arts and Sciences" is deliberate, F. Scmidt, 1884), neo-baroque Croatian National Theatre (HNK, H. Helmer and F. Fellner, 1895), and to that date very modern Art Pavilion (1898) with montage construction of steel and glass – Croatian “Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
”, and finally the masterpiece of Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
– The National Library (Lubinski, finished in 1912). This urban plan is bounded with series of park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
s and parkway
Parkway
The term parkway has several distinct principal meanings and numerous synonyms around the world, for either a type of landscaped area or a type of road.Type of landscaped area:...
s decorated with numerous fountains, sculptures, avenues and gardens (known as “Green Horseshoe”) making Zagreb one of first cities build according to new European art theory of “city as a work of art”.
Oton Ivekovic
Oton Iveković was one of the foremost Croatian painters. He graduated from the Vienna Academy of Painting. He later taught at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts. Iveković largely concerned himself with historical topics as well as some religious themes...
(Meeting of Koloman and Croatian Nobility), Mato Celestin Medović
Mato Celestin Medović
Mato Celestin Medović was a Croatian painter. Best known for his large paintings depicting historical scenes, and his series of colourful landscapes and seascapes of his native Dalmatia, Medović is one of the earliest modern Croatian painters.In his youth Medović was schooled to become a priest in...
(The Arrival of Croats), Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac was a Croatian painter.-Life:- Early life :Bukovac was born Biagio Faggioni in the town of Cavtat south of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia...
(Frantz Joseph
Frantz Joseph
Frantz Joseph is an American football linebacker who is currently a member of the Spokane Shock. He was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2009...
in Zagreb) and decorated with reliefs by Robert Frangeš-Mihanović. “The Golden Hall” becomes unified monument of its age, one of few in Europe.
Realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
appeared in bourgeois portraits by Vjekoslav Karas
Vjekoslav Karas
Vjekoslav Karas was a Croatian painter, considered a pioneer of a new era of Croatian painting and art in general....
. The characters of his portraits are true expressions of their time.
Realistic landscapes are linked to certain parts of the country – Slavonian forests by artists of Osijek
Osijek
Osijek is the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population of 83,496 in 2011. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja county...
school, Dubrovnik in works of Celestin Medović, and Dalmatian coast in works of Menci Klement Crnčić.
In sculpture the hard realism (naturalism) of Ivan Rendić
Ivan Rendic
Ivan Rendić was a Croatian sculptor.He began sculpting early on in life, thanks to the stoneworking tradition of the island of Brač, where he was raised. He finished arts school in Venice in 1871 and afterwards became a part of the Fioretine sculpting atelier...
was replaced by art nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
composed and moving reliefs by Robert Frangeš-Mihanović.
Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac was a Croatian painter.-Life:- Early life :Bukovac was born Biagio Faggioni in the town of Cavtat south of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia...
brought the spirit of impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and he strongly influenced the young artists (including the authors of “Golden Hall”). Right after he painted the screen in HNK in Zagreb with theme of Croatian Illyrian Movement, and symbolic portraits of Croatian Writers in National Library, he founded The Society of Croatian Artists (1897), so called "Zagreb’s colourful school". With this society the Croatian Modern Art started. On the Millennium Exhibition in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
they were able to set aside all other artistic options in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
.
The Twentieth Century
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, and post-impressionism
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet. Fry used the term when he organized the 1910 exhibition Manet and Post-Impressionism...
from Paris. The Munich Circle used values to create volume in their paintings, in a style much simplified from more detailed earlier, academic style. The Medulic Society of sculptors and painters from Split brought themes of national history and legends to their art, and some of the artwork following the First World War contained a strong political message against the ruling Austro-Hungarian state. The Zagreb Spring Salon provided an annual showcase of the local art scene, and a big change was noticeable in 1919 with a move to flatter forms, and signs of cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
and expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
were evident. The avante-garde Zenit Group of the 1920s pushed for integrating the new art forms with the native cultural identity
. At the same time, the Earth Group sought to reflect reality and social issues in their art, a movement that also saw the development of naive art. The 1930s saw a return to more simple, classical styles.
Following the Second World War, artists everywhere were searching for meaning and identity, leading to abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
in the U.S. and art informel in Europe.
In the new Yugoslavia, the communist social realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
style never took hold, but Exat 51 showed the way with geometric abstraction in paintings and simplified spaces in architecture. The Gorgona Group of the 1960s advocated non-conventional forms of visual expression, published their own anti-magazine, and were preoccupied by the absurd. At the same time, the New Tendencies series of exhibits held in conjunction with meetings displayed a more analytical approach to art
, and a move towards New Media, such as photography, video, computer art, performance art and installations, focused more on the artists' process. The Biafra Group of the 1970s was figurative
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...
and expressionist, engaging their audience directly. By the 1980s, the New Image movement brought a return to more traditional painting and images.
See also
- Croatian Architecture
- History of CroatiaHistory of CroatiaCroatia first appeared as a duchy in the 7th century and then as a kingdom in the 10th century. From the 12th century it remained a distinct state with its ruler and parliament, but it obeyed the kings and emperors of various neighboring powers, primarily Hungary and Austria. The period from the...
- Croatian literatureCroatian literatureCroatian literature is a definition given to the compilation of novels, dramas, short stories, poems and other various work of written kind entirely attributed to the medieval and modern culture of the Croats and the Croatian language....
- Music of CroatiaMusic of CroatiaThe music of Croatia, like the divisions of the country itself, has two major influences: the Central European one, present in the central and northern parts of the country, as well as in Slavonia, and the Mediterranean one, particularly present in the coastal regions of Dalmatia and Istria.In...
:Category:World Heritage Sites in Croatia