 Apr 10 2025 - Nov 9 2025

 Ljubljana

The National Gallery, the National Museum and the Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with research institutions have put on a major exhibition of baroque in Slovenia.

One of the most influential art styles in what is today Slovenia, the period brought famous names and outstanding works of architecture, sculpture and painting to Slovenian lands. Ljubljana also saw the number of building projects grow because of ambitious art commissions.

The driving force behind this cultural renaissance were aristocratic intellectuals who yearned to be closer to the Habsburg court and to the artistic centres near and far, thus promoting culture in all fields - the fine arts, music, theatre, etc.

The main exhibitions will be on show at the National Gallery and the National Museum. Other Slovenian museums will also participate in the project with smaller parallel exhibitions, thus complementing the Baroque image of Slovenia.

The exhibition at the National Gallery features some of the best painting and sculpture from the time of the Catholic renewal of the early 17th century to the fading of the Baroque period a century and a half later.

This includes rich furnishings of churches and commissions by Church and noble individuals, as well as Habsburg piety associated with the veneration of individual saints, which will be presented with altar paintings and individual sculptures.

Important themes include the representation of the royal house and the nobility of Carniola, Styria and Gorizia subjects of the ruler, as evidenced by the portraits and various motifs in their collections.

The exhibition also covers art, commissions and collections of the Istrian coastal towns that were part of the Venetian Republic in the 17th and 18th centuries.

It features some 170 artworks created on or for the territory of present-day Slovenia. They come from the National Gallery's collections, several churches and other museum collections as well as from private owners in Slovenia, Italy, Croatia and Austria.