ZAGREB, Sept 5 (Hina) - Croatia will be given an outstanding opportunity to present at the turn of the millennium its contribution to the history, culture, and art of western Christianity with an exhibition which will open in the
world's richest museum, the Pope Sixtus V Hall in the Vatican.
ZAGREB, Sept 5 (Hina) - Croatia will be given an outstanding
opportunity to present at the turn of the millennium its
contribution to the history, culture, and art of western
Christianity with an exhibition which will open in the world's
richest museum, the Pope Sixtus V Hall in the Vatican.#L#
The idea for the exhibition, called "Croats - Christianity,
Culture, Art", came from Monsignor Anton Benvin, former rector at
the St. Jerome's Institute in Rome.
The staging will be a joint effort of the Croatian Bishops'
Conference and the Croatian Culture Ministry, with support from the
Holy See State Secretariat and the Vatican Apostolic Library.
According to Vladimir Markovic, one of the managers of the
exhibition, and Croatia's chief preservationist Miljenko Domijan,
the exhibition will include 128 exhibits which will be transferred
from the central Croatian port of Zadar and Zagreb to the Vatican on
September 9.
The exhibition will feature only the originals of the most valuable
documents and paintings, sculptures, miniatures, antiphonaries,
items made of precious stone, and literary works dating back to the
seventh century when Croats were converted to Christianity.
Appearing for the first time outside Croatia will be Viseslav's
baptistery from the eighth/ninth century, a stone inscription from
the ninth century with the name of Prince Branimir which for the
first time mentions the name Croats, Ladislav's mantle from the
Zagreb cathedral from the 11th century, a 12th-century relief from
the Split cathedral with the image of a Croatian king, a 12th-
century reliquary of St. Vlach's head from Dubrovnik, St. Simeon's
14-th century sepulchre from Zadar, a 17-th century God's tomb from
the Zagreb cathedral, Federik Benkovic's "Abraham's Sacrifice" oil
painting from the Strossmayer Gallery in Zagreb, and Ivan
Mestrovic's "Crucifixion" from Kastelet near Split.
Markovic pointed out the works of living Croatia artists were not
included.
Especially interesting will be literary works displayed in china
cabinets. The works, from the Vatican Apostolic Library and a
secret Vatican archive, include some of the most important for
Croatia's Church history and Croatian culture.
According to Markovic and Domijan, the most significant among these
are "Liber Pontificalis", a missal by abbot Martin, envoy of pope
John IV dating back to 640-642, "Registrum Papae Joannis VIII" -
Pope John VIII's letter of June 7, 879, to Croatian ruler Branimir,
a parchment book of gospels from Osor dating back to 1070, and
"Registrum Papae Inocetii IV" - a document sent from Lyon on March
29, 1248, in which Pope Inocet IV grants permission to Senj bishop
Filip the use of the Slavic language and the Glagolithic alphabet in
services for Croats.
Accompanying the exhibition will be two extensive catalogues, in
English and Italian, with introductions written by 20 experts who
worked on the exhibition.
Domijan said almost all exhibits were restored according to very
high standards and that the event will be a major gain for Croatia's
heritage.
The staging will be done by architect Branko Siladjin.
(hina) ha