The Museum of Arts and Crafts - “The Magnificent Vranyczanys”

Until August 21st the Museum of Arts and Crafts will feature a representative exhibition, “The Magnificent Vranyczanys”, which is dedicated to a family which left a deep mark on Croatian history over the four centuries of its members’ activity.

Until August 21^st, the Museum of Arts and Crafts will feature the exhibition “The Magnificent Vranyczanys”. The most comprehensive display ever of the life of the Vranyczany-Dobrinović noble family tells the story of generations that have left a deep mark on Croatian history over the four centuries of the family’s work and social engagement. Its members were the protagonists of the most important events in Croatia’s past, and they played an important role in the country’s economy and politics. They were also known as great philanthropists, collectors and builders of representative structures, while their activities have greatly contributed to the development of Croatian culture and art.

The very valuable and previously never shown documents illustrate the family’s numerous interests, some unknown details about family members, their secrets as well as some of their artworks and artefacts from everyday life. The introductory part of the exhibition presents the family’s genealogy and illustrates it with documents and photos of the places where they lived. Visitors of the exhibition will also have the opportunity to see that women played important roles in the Vranyczany-Dobrinović family, and that the palaces they lived in – which nowadays house important Croatian cultural institutions, were built by renowned architects from Vienna, while the main family portraitist was the great Croatian painter Vlaho Bukovac.

The Vranyczany-Dobrinović family played an important role in the Illyrian movement, which evolved in Croatia in the atmosphere of the Croatian national Revival and was aimed at cultural and political unification of all Illyrians or south Slavs. The movement lasted between 1830 and 1842. The Vranyczanys were the founders of the National (Illyrian) Library; they financially supported the establishment of Matica Hrvatska and participated in the transformation of the hitherto German oriented Zagreb Theatre into a Croatian national institution among other things. They also had strong ties with the Habsburgs and the high society and diplomacy of Vienna. Family members were also politically active during the times of Croatia’s bid for independence; diplomat Janko Vranyczany-Dobrinović was the Minister of Tourism in the first Croatian government. Throughout its entire history, this family was acutely aware of their place in the community and actively participated in humanitarian activities, while they were also patrons of numerous Croatian artists, such as Vlaho Bukovac, Celestin Medović, Tomislav Krizman and Mirko Rački.

After the Second World War, the Vranyczany-Dobrinović family’s assets were nationalised. Its descendants have dispersed and nowadays live all over the world as well as here in Croatia, where they are very much present on the cultural scene.

”The Magnificent Vranyczanys” exhibition is taking place under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, with financial backing from the City of Zagreb and the City Office for Education, Culture and Sport, the Ministry of Culture and the Croatian Academy of Science and Art, in cooperation with various museums and other cultural and educational institutions.