| The Collection of Prints and Drawings
by the Old Masters, the so-called Old Collection
of the Department of Prints and Drawings, holds
– same as in any other institution of this kind
– the status of an exceptionally valuable collection,
which – due to its age, fragile nature and importance
– confirms the greatness of the history of the European
print art through the prints and their authors.
In the year 2006, the Collection of print sheets
and drawings of 19th century was joined to the Old
Collection, which includes the print sheets of the
European schools from 16th to the end of 18th century;
thereby, the material covered by these two collections,
reaching far back into the history of prints and
drawings, had increased to approximately three and
a half thousand sheets.
Apart from the exceptional care in their mounting,
the exhibitions of the old masters – to the names
of whom European engravers, publishers and collectors
are linked – are accompanied by catalogues, in
which the attempt is made to offer the best possible
insight into each individual work of art, its
author, print code and manuscript. The catalogues
of the Italian print art from Marcantoni Raimondi
to Piranese and the Italian neo-classicists have
been published so far; preparations are underway
for composing the catalogues of other European
schools: the Dutch, from Lucas van Leyden to Houbraken;
the French, from Jacques Callot to Paul Gavarni;
the German, from the minor masters H. S. Beham
and Aldegrever to the Killian circle of engravers.
The Collection of old drawings is planned to be
published; this material is almost completely
unknown, prevailed by the Italian drawings of
17th century, but crowned by the mannerist drawing
“Judith and Holofern” by Juraj Julije Klović;
in the Collection of old prints, the prints by
Martin Rota Kolunić, a Šibenik-born, who worked
as court engraver in Vienna and Prague in 16th
century, are estimated similarly valuable in their
category to the aforementioned drawing.
Along with the Old Collection, the additional
Collection of facsimiles of the greatest European
print masters offers excellent educational material,
by the exhibiting of which the Department of Prints
and Drawings attempts to maintain and foster the
sensibility toward the rarely available works
by the old masters.
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