Among the paintings exibited at the 2nd floor atrium, there are four
from the Blessed Virgin Mary's altar that used to stand in the old Zagreb
cathedral's right nave from 1688 to the great earthquake in 1880. The
paintings used to close the big altar, and came in pairs, as follows:
Annunciation and Presentation in the Temple, Visitation to Elisabeth
and Assumption of the Mother of God. They were among the most powerful
devotional paintings in the Zagreb (arch)diocese. They were commissioned
by Bishop Aleksandar Ignacije Mikulic, curator Ivan Znika, and canon
Mihael Boczak (Bocak). They were most probably painted by Ivan (Joannes)
Eisenhort, who came to Zagreb from Ljubljana.
Towards the end of the 18th century, Eisenhort was the most significant
painter in the city. He was very well educated, in the spirit of Venetian
Baroque mannerism. His works are characterized by Baroquely soft brush
moves, manneristic space treatment model and figure shaping.
The altar that used to hold the paintings was gilt by Bernardo Bobic
(Bubich, Vobich), painter, polychrome artist, and gold plater; ? - Zagreb,
around 1695; was active in Zagreb between 1683 and 1695. During their
restoration in 1950, the paintings were disassembled by Zvonimir Wyroubal,
who sawed the planks longitudinally, in order to adjust them to their
new role of gallery exhibits.
Among the paintings exibited at the 2nd floor atrium, there are four
from the Blessed Virgin Mary's altar that used to stand in the old Zagreb
cathedral's right nave from 1688 to the great earthquake in 1880. The
paintings used to close the big altar, and came in pairs, as follows:
Annunciation and Presentation in the Temple, Visitation to Elisabeth
and Assumption of the Mother of God. They were among the most powerful
devotional paintings in the Zagreb (arch)diocese. They were commissioned
by Bishop Aleksandar Ignacije Mikulic, curator Ivan Znika, and canon
Mihael Boczak (Bocak). They were most probably painted by Ivan (Joannes)
Eisenhort, who came to Zagreb from Ljubljana.