Baroque Art and Architecture in Slovenia: Migrations, Transfers, Contacts, and Networks.

The conference will examine the circulation of artists, artworks, and ideas in 17th- and 18th-century Slovenia, situating local developments within broader Central European and Mediterranean contexts. Bringing together over thirty scholars from Slovenia, Croatia, Austria, and Italy, the event will explore artistic networks, patronage systems, and cultural exchanges between the Venetian Republic, the Habsburg lands, and their wider spheres of influence. As part of the Baroque in Slovenia exhibition project, the symposium highlights how mobility, collaboration, and trans-regional connections shaped Baroque artistic practices and the reception of art across early modern Europe.

The conference will be held on:
- Monday, October 13: National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana
- Tuesday, October 14: Posavje Museum Brežice, Brežice
- Wednesday, October 15: National Gallery of Slovenia, Ljubljana

Lectures will be presented in English, German, and Italian.

Book of Abstracts with Programme: https://ebooks.uni-lj.si/ZalozbaUL/catalog/book/808

For smoother organization, prior registration is recommended: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvuHbAUW7ifR3g7bxghNG_Y5YVJczBeszwn4RiuxE9l43Xlw/viewform

Programme:
DAY 1: Monday, 13 October 2025
Ljubljana, National Gallery of Slovenia

09:00 Opening Speech
Barbara Jaki (National Gallery of Slovenia)
Matej Klemenčič (Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana)

09:30-10:45 - Session I - Chair: Matej Klemenčič
- Nina Kudiš, The Former High Altarpiece of the Ljubljana Capuchin Church: Authorship, Style, Context of Execution and New Proposals
- Luka Ručigaj, The Frescoes in the Grand Hall of the Auersperg Princely Palace in Ljubljana
- Cristiano Guarneri, The Auersperg Album of Architectural Prints: From Classical Rome through Renaissance Antiquarianism to Baroque Carniola

10:45 Coffee break

11:15-12:15 - Session II - Chair: Sara Turk Marolt
- Katra Meke, Franciscus Illouscheg pictor. Painter and his Secular Commissions
- Enrico Lucchese, Dalla Serenissima all’Arcadia: i rapporti dei Dolničar con l’Italia
- Poster presentation: Tjaša Šimunić, Aleš Žiga Dolničar (Alexius Sigismundus Thalnitscher von Thalberg): De vita agresti beata / Encomium vitae agrestis

12:15 Exhibition visit: Baroque in Slovenia, National Gallery

13:45 Lunch break

14:45-15:30 Keynote Lecture
Friedrich Polleroß, Lauter große Prinzen, Grafen und Herren welche die Magnificence des kaiserlichen Hofes sehr vermehren. Die „stellvertretende Repräsentation“ der Habsburger durch ihre Höflinge

15:30-16:20 - Session III - Chair: Ingeborg Schemper Sparholz
- Dubravka Botica, Emperor on the Road: Migrations and Transformations of Festive Architecture in the Habsburg Monarchy in the Long 18th Century in Present-Day Croatia
- Neža Lukančič, Local Pride, Imperial Presence: The Image of Graz in the Visual Reception of the Hereditary Tribute to Charles VI in 1728

16:20 Coffee break

16:50-18:10 - Session IV - Chair: Dubravka Botica
- Frančiška Oražem, Journeyman Mobility between Centers and Peripheries: Jernej Pluemberger and the Education of Sculptors in 17th-Century Inner Austria and the German-Speaking Lands
- Jure Donša, Patrons and the Saint: Stone Sculptures of St John of Nepomuk in Styria
- Iva Jazbec Tomaić, French Masterpiece in Gold and Silk for the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Radmirje

18:10 Light Dinner (for conference speakers and organisers)

19:30 Closing Ceremony of the Year of Heritage
The 2024/25 academic year at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, was dedicated to heritage through lectures, discussions, and visits. The ceremony will feature a musical performance by Izidor Erazem Grafenauer.

DAY 2: Tuseday, 14 October 2025
Brežice, Posavje Museum Brežice

09:30 Opening Speeches
Ivan Molan (Mayor of the Municipality of Brežice)
Alenka Černelič Krošelj, Managing Baroque Heritage in the 21st Century: the Brežice Castle and the Knight’s Hall

10:00-10:50 - Session V - Chair: Ajda Mladenovič
- Rado Zoubek, Presentation of the Comprehensive Conservation-Restoration Project of the Painted Ceiling of the Knights’ Hall in Brežice Castle
- Exhibition presentation: Eva Koren, Viktorija Peternel, Michelle Vidovič, Frančišek Karel Remb – Technological Study of the Ceiling Frescoes Detail

10:50 Coffee break

11:20-12:40 - Session VI - Chair: Alenka Černelič Krošelj
- Matjaž Grahornik, Remp and His Close Relatives in Archival Sources
- Renata Komić Marn, The Oeuvre of Franz Carl Remp in the Light of Provenance Research
- Stefan Albl - Camilla Anselmi, Remp pasticheur

12:40 visit to the Posavje Museum Brežice

13:20 Lunch break

14:30-15:20 - Session VII - Chair: Renata Komić Marn
- Lucija Burić, Valentin Metzinger in Rijeka and the Northern Adriatic
- Petra Batelja Majić, A New Wall Painting in Hrvatsko zagorje by Anton Joseph Lerchinger?

15:20 Coffee break

15:50-17:10 - Session VIII - Chair: Stefan Albl
- Alice Fornasiero, Humprecht Jan Černín and His Network of Painters in Seventeenth-Century Venice
- Boris Hajdinjak, Ignaz Maria I. Attems and His Wife Maria Regina, née Wurmbrand
- Edgar Lein, Von der Mahler Kunst – Ein Manuskript aus dem Besitz des Malers Johann Cyriak Hackhofer

17:30 Light Dinner (for conference speakers and organisers)

DAY3: Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Ljubljana, National Gallery of Slovenia

09:00-10:15 - Session IX - Chair: Tina Košak
- Helena Seražin - Minka Osojnik, Lombard Masters in Gorizia: New Findings Concerning the Monastery Church at Kostanjevica near Nova Gorica
- Metoda Kemperl, Transformations of the Interior of Ljubljana Cathedral: from Desire to Reality
- Sylvia Stegbauer, Artworks and Networks of the Marian Congregations of the Jesuits in the Austrian Province of the Order

10:15 Coffee break

10:45-12:00 - Session X - Chair: Frančiška Oražem
- Martina Ožanić, Innovations and Innovators: The Development of Altar Designs in the 17th and 18th Century Croatia and the Neighbouring Lands
- Maja Žvorc, From the Holy Land to Croatian Zagorje: The Miraculous Thumbelina-Sized Statue at the Heart of Trški Vrh’s Pilgrimage Church
- Julia Strobl, On the Biography of Johann Gottlieb Cronawetter: Mattielli, Winckelmann and the Dresden Antiquities

12:00 Exhibition visit: Baroque in Slovenia. Architecture and Applied Arts, National Museum of Slovenia

13:30 Lunch break

14:45-16:00 - Session XI - Chair: Nina Kudiš
- Sara Turk Marolt, Architect, Stonemason, and Intermediary: Alessandro Tremignon and his Work for Koper
- Damir Tulić, The Groppelli Brothers and Venetian Sculpture of the 18th Century between the Serenissima and the Holy Roman Empire
- Mario Pintarić, Marble Across Borders: Networks Between Two Venetians - Altar Builder Pietro Fadiga and Sculptor Gaetano Susali in Littorale Austriaco

16:00 Coffee break

16:30-17:30 - Session XII - Chair: Damir Tulić
- Vlasta Zajec, Wood Carved Altars in Istria and Slovenia – Examples of Artisans and Models Migrations
- Mateja Jerman, Venetian Baroque Goldsmith’s Works in the Church Treasuries of Western Istria

17:30 Final Discussion