Croatian sacred art museum in Hungary hosting exhibition on Faust Vrančić, “Croatian Leonardo da Vinci”
On 14 May 2022, the Croatian sacred art museum in Peresznye, Hungary, hosted the opening of an exhibition spotlighting the scientific and religious legacy of a Croatian scholar, humanist, lexicographer, inventor, diplomat and bishop at the turn of the 17th century Faust Vrančić (Znanstveno i duhovno nasljeđe Fausta Vrančića). Jointly organised on the initiative of the Research Associate at the Division for the History of Natural and Mathematical Sciences at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Dr Marijana Borić by the Museum, National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) and the Academy, the exhibition will remain on view until 1 September 2022.
The exhibition’s 16 display boards, selected works and small-scale models of Vrančić’s inventions vividly present the great polyhistor’s work and his significant contribution to scientific, cultural and religious heritage of Europe. The boards feature the most significant Vrančić’s works preserved in the Manuscripts and Old Books Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb, such as Dictionarium quinque nobilissimarum Europae linguarum, Latinae, Italicae, Germanicae, Dalmatiae et Ungaricae (Venice, 1595) and Machinae novae (Venice, 1515/16), including correspondence and other manuscript heritage of the Vrančić family in the Collection and other valuable resources related to Vrančić’s work and life preserved in the NSK Print Collection and NSK Map Collection.
Apart from resources held by the National and University Library in Zagreb, the material displayed at the exhibition includes content privately owned by the exhibition’s initiator Dr Borić and the Draganić-Vrančić family as well as content from the collections of the Museum, the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome, Hammelburger antiquarian bookshop, the Vienna Art History Museum, Library of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Dubrovnik Research Library, Alessandrina University Library in Rome and Ambrosiana Library in Milan.
As a man of great learning who was highly accomplished in several scientific fields, Vrančić truly embodied the Renaissance man, being a proper homo universalis in every sense of the concept. He spent the greater part of his life in the Croatian-Hungarian kingdom, Habsburg Monarchy, Republic of Venice and the Papal States, also acting as a diplomat and bishop. Through his works, aimed at the spiritual unification of Europe of his time, Vrančić transcended the boundaries of his national identity, leaving behind a rich legacy whose lasting contribution to the development of Europe’s scientific, cultural and religious heritage has the same unifying potential for today’s Europe.
Learn more about Faust Vrančić by visiting the Faust Vrančić NSK online exhibition.
An exhibition spotlighting the heritage of Croatian scholar, humanist, lexicographer, inventor, diplomat and bishop at the turn of the 17th century Faust Vrančić, “the Croatian Leonardo da Vinci” (“Znanstveno i duhovno nasljeđe Fausta Vrančića”). Croatian sacred art museum, Peresznye, Hungary, 14 May – 1 September 2022.
