Information

Since the founding of the institution in 1951, the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts has gathered through acquisitions, and less frequently through gifts, an exceptionally valuable collection of Old Master  prints and drawings. The collection includes works on paper from the sixteenth to the end of eighteenth century, offering an overview of the historical development of European printmaking, as well as highlighting the stylistic peculiarity of drawings.

Within the European print collection, Netherlandish, Dutch and Flemish artists from the sixteenth to the end of eighteenth century are well represented. This impressive group consists of important printmakers such as Lucas van Leyden, Pieter van der Heyden, Cornelis Cort, Hendrick Goltzius (and workshop), several members of Rembrandt’s workshop, Herman van Swanevelt, Jacob Houbracken, as well as engravers from successful dynasties such as Van de Passe, Sadeler, Vorsterman, and Wiericx. Their outstanding prints, each with their own distinctive artistic value, give the collection a broad range of topics, including allegorical, mythological and religious scenes, as well as landscapes, genre scenes, historical portraits and battles.

Ana Petković Basletić, Senior curator (June 2020)