The Museum of Arts and Crafts is currently closed for reconstruction and is expected to reopen in 2027.  Until then, only the MUO Gallery is open to visitors.

Information

This Zagreb museum, founded in 1880, was one of the first institutions aimed at preserving the traditional and artistic values of artisanal crafts and the culture of upper- and middle-class city-dwellers in Central Europe. The first objects intended for the prospective museum were donated — several years before its official inauguration — by Bishop J.J. Strossmayer. From then on, its holdings were developed systematically and strategically, with acquisitions of objects from Croatia and across Europe, supplemented by numerous donations from private collectors.  

Most notable among the Netherlandish items are the Amsterdam cartographers – Johannes Janssonius, Frederik de Wit, the Visscher family, and Willem Blaeu – and the published works of Pieter Mortier, as well as individual prints by engravers and etchers such as Nicolaes Berchem, Jan van Londerseel, Boetius à Bolswert, and Nicolaes de Bruyn.  

The museum possesses a collection of paintings by Jan Victors, David Teniers the Younger, Esaias van de Velde, and Claes Jacobsz. van der Heck, alongside artists of Dutch and Flemish origin who were active in Italy, such as Nicolas Régnier (Niccolò Ranieri) and Pauwels Franck (Paolo Fiammingo). It also preserves paintings attributed to or made after Peter Paul Rubens, Adriaen van de Velde, and Balthasar van den Bossche.  

In addition to its fine arts collections, the museum also boasts objects such as ivories, Delft faience, glass cups and goblets, and select pieces of period furniture.  

Antonia Došen, PhD, Head of the Collection of Prints and Collection of Printing and Bookbinding; Mihaela Cik, Curator of the Painting Collection (November 2025) 

Collection catalogues

Museum of arts and crafts Zagreb, Croatia
Malekovic, Vladimir, Karmen Gagro
Zagreb 1996