Acta historiae artis Slovenica

Noble Portraits from the Estate of the Barons Adelstein

Boris Golec — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

This article discusses the second set of noble portraits that the National Museum in Ljubljana purchased in 1934 from Jožef Breznik, a landowner at Kog near Ormož, and belonged to the estate of Antonia Kofler, née Baroness Dienersperg, the former owner of Breznik’s property. The eighteen portraits under discussion passed into the hands of the Dienersperg family in 1822, when they inherited or purchased the Adelsteins’ Dobrnica Mansion (Guteneck) near Dobrna. The portraits feature the Adelsteins and their relatives, members of the Attems, Türndl, Gaisruck, and Gabelkoven families. Most individuals portrayed were yet to be identified based on abbreviations, surnames, or circumstances. The majority of oil paintings were produced in Styria, whereas the depictions of four members of the Attems family originated in Gorizia, and one portrait probably in Gotha, Thuringia. Before being transferred to Dobrnica, several portraits were kept at Švarcenštajn Mansion (Schwarzenstein) near Velenje. Only the painter Lorenz Josef Stachl, the author of several portraits from the mid-eighteenth century, is attested directly once, and two of his contemporaneous painters from Gorizia can indirectly be identified as Johann Michael Lichtenreit and Antonio Paroli.

Czechoslovak Efforts to Acquire Works of Art from Austrian Collections after the First World War

Kristina Uhlíková — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

After 1918, the newly established Czechoslovakia acquired the property of the Austro-Hungarian crown and ruling dynasty located within its territory, including numerous works of art, in accordance with the Treaty of Saint-Germain. The young republic also sought to recover works that had been transferred from the Czech lands to Vienna due to the centralization of the monarchy, where they became part of public collections. The article discusses the (rejected) request submitted by the Czechoslovak Republic after World War I for the return of Czech artworks from Vienna museums. It presents the historical context of the restitution claim, the individuals involved in these processes (especially on the Czechoslovak side), the main events, and relevant documents. In the broader European context, negotiations on the acquisition of parts of the former Austro-Hungarian court collections by the successor states paved the way for discussions on the rights of states to cultural heritage.

Interwar Murals on Public and Private Buildings in Ljubljana

Katarina Mohar — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

This article examines murals in Ljubljana during the interwar period, considering works created through public commissions as well as those intended for public view—whether on the façades of private and public buildings or in interiors designed for communal use or prestigious purposes. In addition to outlining the broader context of such commissions, it provides a partial overview of currently known murals and offers an in-depth analysis of the oeuvre of Mirko Šubic, the most prolific artist in this field. His work serves as an important reference point for understanding the development of mural painting in an architectural context and raises questions about the cultural and social role of art in interwar Ljubljana.

Soulages, Richter, and Others

Marcela Rusinko — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

This study explores how modern abstract stained-glass interventions can profoundly transform the atmosphere and meaning of medieval sacred monuments, imbuing them with new layers of spiritual, aesthetic, and collective identity. Focusing on non-figurative works by the renowned artists Pierre Soulages (Saint Faith’s Church in Conques, France), Gerhard Richter (Cologne Cathedral in Germany), and Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová (Saint Vitus’s Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic), the research investigates how such interventions reinterpret tradition through contemporary visual language. It considers the performative and symbolic potency of these artworks, examining the intent of both their artists and commissioners, and how these projects reflect broader ideological contexts of a politically divided world and its aftermath. Ultimately, the study probes the unique resonance between medieval and modern artistic expression, revealing how abstract stained glass can serve as a spiritually and socially legitimizing force within historically layered sacred spaces.