A Retrospective Exhibition by Mate Celestin Medović

Until February 12th, the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery will feature a retrospective exhibition by the great Croatian painter Mate Celestin Medović (1857 - 1920), a painter who had many interests and whose opus consists of a wide thematic range, from sacral paintings and historic pieces, to still life, female portraits and modern landscape painting.

He was a monk and a painter, schooled in Florence, Rome and Munich, who eventually left the Franciscan order and lived in Zagreb for some time. During that phase, he painted numerous religious pieces and historic compositions in the churches of Northern Croatia. Although he also made a great impact on Croatian modern art, and he is often regarded as one of the founders of Croatian modernism, along with renowned painter Vlaho Bukovac, his contemporaries did not always understand or accept him, because they could not comprehend his passion for painting. That is why his place in this style of art has not been precisely defined to this day.

This exhibition, which represents the most extensive display of Medović’s opus, will finally remove certain prejudices about his role in Croatian modern painting. The exhibition features around two hundred works by this artist, which are on loan from many museums, monasteries and churches, as well as private collections. His monumental works with episodes from Croatian history are the crown of the exhibition, which he created for the Golden Hall on Opatička Street. The public will also have an opportunity to see his monumental piece “The Martyrs of Srijem”, which was believed to be lost until recently, and is nowadays considered one of the most beautiful works of Croatian painting of the 19th century.

The retrospective exhibition by Mate Celestin Medović will remain open until February 12th.