The exhibition was staged in the gallery of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb in the autumn of 2017 to mark 240 years since the birth of Count Nugent and to present his life and complex personality to the Croatian public.
Count Laval Nugent (1777-1862) was important for Croatia's development into a modern European country. A member of Irish nobility, he was a field marshal in the army of the Habsburg monarchy, of which Croatia was part at the time, and a staunch advocate of Croatian development.
Count Nugent was very interested in Croatian history and culture, conducting archaeological explorations and collecting works of art throughout Italy and the Croatian coast. He assembled a striking collection of items that formed the basis of the first museum in Croatia, the Nugent Museum at Trsat, overlooking the northern Adriatic city of Rijeka, one of his estates in Croatia.
After Dublin, the exhibition will travel to other cities in Ireland.