Medo Pucić (1821-1882) bio je svestrani intelektualac, književnik i istaknuti nositelj kulturnog ozračja Dubrovnika 19. stoljeća. Godine 1878. u časopisu Slovinac objavio je zanimljivu likovnu ...kritiku “Miho Vilenik slikar u Parizu”. Taj njegov prilog otkriva nam Michela Willenicha, međunarodno priznatog francuskog slikara dubrovačkog podrijetla, koji je do sada ostao potpuno izvan kataloških pregleda dubrovačke i hrvatske likovnosti. Uvidom u arhivsku građu i pregledom kataloga izložaba u Parizu i Francuskoj od 1870. do 1903. otkriva se bogati slikarski opus službenog marinista Ministarstva pomorstva i kolonija Francuske i viteza Legije časti. U kontekstu cjelokupnog i raznorodnog Pucićevog opusa ovim člankom se pokazuje njegov izniman senzibilitet za likovne umjetnosti i kontinuirano nastojanje afi rmiranja dubrovačkih slikara.
Slikar Filippo Naldi bio je prema vlastitom iskazu podrijetlom iz Firence. U službi mletačke vojske živio je i djelovao u Dalmaciji sredinom 18. stoljeća. Spominje se u Opuzenu gdje je bio upravitelj ...luke. Naldi je na širem dalmatinskom prostoru izradio velik broj slika vjerskoga sadržaja te nekoliko portreta. Ovom prigodom pripisuje mu se sedam slika u crkvama Dalmatinske zagore i u Poljicima (Zavojane kraj Vrgorca, Dobranje kraj Imotskoga, Kostanje u Poljicima, Čaporice kraj Trilja i Franjevački samostan u Sinju). Autor analizira odlike Naldijeva slikarstva i njegovo značenje u dalmatinskoj umjetnosti i društvu 18. stoljeća.
Blood and Milk in Medieval ImageryThe wall painting Plague Image (also named the Image of Scourge, Mater omnium, The Virgin of Mercy, Our Lady of Protection, Mary the Mediatrix, Double Intercession, ...Combined Intercession, Our Lady’s Intercession etc.) in the Church of St. Primus in #rna near Kamnik in Slovenia, executed in 1504, at the end of the Middle Ages and at the dawn of the Renaissance in Central Europe, reflects well the passage between the two worlds of imagination and their visual representation. The triangular composition – with God the Father, the universal entity, at its apex, and lower with Christ exposing his wounds (Man of Sorrows, Imago pietatis) on the left, and Virgin Mary on the right, with her bosom bare – determines the believer’s perception. The scene combines the notions of birth, symbolized by the charity of Mary offering her milk, and death, symbolized by the cruelty of blood shed by Christ and the menacing sword of God the Father. At the time of their realization, the figures of Christ and Mary were meant to be spiritual, imaging the mysteries of the Eucharist and the Incarnation. The present text examines the question as to what extent the believers of the past connected, in their imagination, Christ’s nakedness and Mary’s bosom with parts of the body of a common human. The masked eroticism of the two figures put a stamp on this suggestive image which in the course of history provoced various reactions...
The Varaždin Franciscan infirmary was built in 1667, adjacent to the western wing of the Franciscan Monastery. It included a pharmacy which was used, not only by the monks, but also by the people of ...the entire town. The infirmary and the pharmacy were thoroughly restored in the mid-18th century, when the renowned Pauline painter, John the Baptist Ranger, painted the vault of the biggest ground floor room. Unfortunately, due to inadequate space usage and capillary rising damp, the frescoes were quite damaged in the 20th century. For various reasons, all preceding attempts of sanation had been terminated, leaving the issues of damp and salt cristallization unresolved, which led to rapid deterioration of the painted layer. In 2013, Croatian Conservation Institute was included in the issue, because of the severe state of the frescoes. That was when initial conservation and restoration research was conducted. It was found that the microclimatic conditions in the former pharmacy were extremely poor, mainly due to several factors: wet aggregate of concrete floors, a walled-in furnace, which was found damaged in the hallway of the ground floor, and the surface cement plaster and waterproof coat Aquathrill, which had been applied in previous interventions.
Kao rezultat višegodišnjih istraživanja prepoznata su i identificirana nova djela mletačkog slikara Mateja Ponzonea Pončuna koji se u četvrtom desetljeću 17. stoljeća doselio u Split gdje mu je brat ...Sforza Ponzone bio nadbiskup. Tu je za sebe, majku i brata dao izraditi grobnicu u svetištu katedrale sv. Dujma za koju je slikar trebao izvesti ciklus slika s prizorima iz života sv. Dujma. Autor navodi nekoliko oltarnih pala koje je Ponzone naslikao za dalmatinske naručitelje, a čuvaju se u crkvama na otoku Braču (Nerežišća, župna crkva), u Splitu (crkva sv. Mikule u Velom Varošu, sada crkva sv. Križa; samostan sv. Klare), Trogiru (crkva sv. Petra, nekada crkva sv. Mihovila) i na otoku Čiovu (crkva sv. Lazara / sv. Josipa). Analiziraju se i odlike Ponzoneova slikarstva te se upozorava na njegovu venecijansku stilsku formaciju. No, kao inteligentan i moderan slikar Ponzone se osvrtao i na druge umjetnike, pa se može uočiti da u prikazivanju lika sv. Frane Asiškoga (Šibenik, crkva sv. Frane) slijedi rješenja Federica Baroccija (1535.–1612.).