Naslov
The Pre- and After- Lives of Transferred Museum Objects: on the Exchange of Two Paintings from the Strossmayer Gallery in Zagreb for a Baptismal Font from the Venetian Museo Correr, 1942

Autori
Pasini Tržec, Iva ; Dulibić, Ljerka

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
Art and Politics in Europe in the Modern Period

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 29.06.2016. - 02.07.2016

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
transfer and exchange of museum objects; restitution; Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters; Museo Correr; Vittore Carpaccio; so called Baptismal Font of Duke Višeslav

Sažetak
The history of the Strossmayer Gallery, one of the oldest museum institutions in Croatia (opened to the public in 1884), mirrors political circumstances of various historical periods of the country, including complex restitution negotiations that occurred in the Alps-Adriatic region in the 20th century. This paper will present a case that exemplifies the process, or processes of cultural transfer that continued from the 19th century to a very specific political situation of the 20th century. In the middle of World War II, the Italian government asked for two paintings by Vittore Carpaccio, acquired in Milan by Bishop J. J. Strossmayer (1815-1905) to be exchanged for the so called Baptismal Font of Duke Višeslav held in the depository of the Museo Civico in Venice. Since the font was an object of symbolic significance, a testament to the centuries of the existence of the Croatian nation, Ante Pavelić, the then leader of the newly established Independent State of Croatia, decided that the exchange had to take place immediately. The paintings were transferred from the Strossmayer Gallery in Zagreb to the Venetian Museo Correr, and the Baptismal Font was transferred to the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb, for whose unveiling the state organized a grand public event and celebration. This was a pompous public display with aim to legitimise the new political regime and its alliance with Fascist Italy. This exchange took place in the framework of restitution negotiation, although the Baptismal Font had not originally been included into the restitution list, but pushed onto it by political will. On the other hand, Carpaccio’s paintings, in Strossmayer’s possession since 1872, had never before been the subject of any restitution process. We will explore the broader context of this specific exchange and present archival findings that offer a deeper insight into the long lasting WWI restitution negotiations in the Alps- Adriatic region, which continued into the period of WWII and after. Much of art history still takes as its focus the initial facture of a work of art. Only recently has it been recognized that there is a need to explore what happens to an artwork after the moment of its making. Various ways in which narratives of earlier provenance and multiple changes in ownership manifest themselves have become an enticing and challenging research subject in the field. They point to an adaptation of an artwork’s form and meaning in the process of contextual change, very often politically motivated, and give way to explorations of the impact of often disguised, intertwined and dynamic social interrelations of the lasting possessions of artworks. Whether, in what capacity and how to integrate these alternative narratives into museum interpretation strategies, and especially into museum permanent display presentation, remains an open question, but one whose possible solutions could be discussed only on the firm basis of a comprehensive art historical research, as we intend to point out by presenting this particular case study.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest umjetnosti

POVEZANOST RADA