Mimara Museum

17/12/2024

09/12/2024

THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893
Family of satires / France, 19th century / terracotta, Ø 41 cm / ATM 2304

A satyr, or faun, is a mythological being depicted as a man with the legs and tail of a goat, horns and pointed ears. Its appearance is taken from the god Pan, and it symbolizes peace and fertility. The relief shows a family of satyrs in the forest, where the father satyr playing the flute is sitting on a swing on one side, and the mother satyr is sitting on the other side. Among them are two small playful satyr children.

05/12/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893
Diana / France, 19th century / bronze, 37,1 x 14,8 cm / ATM 1214
Diana is the Roman goddess of hunters, wild animals and nature. Her counterpart is the Greek goddess Artemis. She was considered a triple deity (Diana triformis), united with the underworld goddess Hecate and the moon goddess Luna. As the goddess of hunting, Diana is often depicted with a bow and arrow.

02/12/2024

"Motifs in 17th century Dutch Landscape Painting from the Mimara Museum Collection" is the new virtual exhibition on our web site

(Virtual) exhibition Motifs in 17th century Dutch Landscape Painting from the Mimara Museum Collection November 28, 2024 – March 31, 2025 *** See exhibition (croatian version): Motivi nizozemskog slikarstva krajolika 17. stoljeća iz fundusa Muzeja Mimara *** The norms and values of 17th-century D...

25/11/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893

Mythological Scene with Dionysian Festivities / France, 18th century / bronze, 57 x 21 cm / ATM 2303

Dionysus is the Greek god of fertility who became known in later art as the god of wine, pleasure and festivities. His Roman counterpart is Bacchus. He is known for excessive drinking and debauchery, from which the word Bacchanalia was born. At first he was depicted as an elderly man with a beard, and later as a young man with a wreath of vines or grapes.
Dionysian festivities included the performance of plays and songs and an all-night party with dancing and wine, during which people could be unrestrained, merry, drink and dance, and be liberated from all social conventions, in honor and glory of Dionysus.

20/11/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893

Small Putto with Percussion and Laurel Wreath / Italy, 18th century / bronze, 19 x 7 cm / ATM 2287

Putto is a small chubby boy depicted as a counterpart to Cupid (Amor) or the Greek god Eros, and later coming to represent a kind of angel in sacred art, often depicted with wings (cherub).
The figure of putto begins to appear during the Renaissance, and has its roots in classical mythology. The earliest motifs of putto are shown on children's sarcophagi, most often in dancing and rejoicing. During the Renaissance, it was realized in different ways, and in later periods, we find its flourishing in works of art in the 19th century.

16/11/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM

https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893

The Judgement of Paris / Italy, 18th century / bronze, Ø 19,3 cm / ATM 2286
The Judgment of Paris is an event from Greek mythology that led to the Trojan War. Since Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, she decided to throw a golden apple with the inscription "to the fairest one" among the guests. The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite argued about who should get the apple, so it was agreed that Paris, the son of the Trojan king Priam, would decide who is the most beautiful one and give her the apple. He chose Aphrodite, who bribed him with the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, the wife of the Spartan king Menelaus. In order to return Helen, who was taken by Paris to Troy, the Greeks attacked the Trojans, which marked the start of the Trojan War.

12/11/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893

Plaque depicting the Abduction of the Sabine women / Germany, 17th century / bronze, Ø 15,6 cm / ATM 2337

The plaque in shallow relief shows in detail a scene from a classical legend in which the founders of the city of Rome, during a festival organized by Romulus, abducted the Sabine women, residents of the surrounding areas, in order to ensure an increase in the city's population. Later, the king of the Sabines, Titus Tatius, declared war on Rome because of their abduction, and the Sabine women who were already married to Roman men, in order to prevent the massacre, begged their fathers and countrymen to stop fighting against their husbands. They prevented further fighting and achieved partnership and peace between the two tribes.

08/11/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893

Mercury / Italy, 16th century / bronze, 17,4 x 5,3 cm / ATM 1218

In Greek mythology, Mercury is the son of the nymph Maia (one of the seven Pleiades, daughter of the Titan Atlas) and Zeus. His Roman name Mercurius comes from the Latin word for merchandise, merx or mercator, meaning merchant. The theme of the flying Mercury spread throughout Europe, conveying the Mannerist style. Mercury rising and standing on one leg, as depicted in Giambologna's* sculpture Flying Mercury, became the model for numerous later depictions of this deity.
* pseudonym of Jean De Boulogne, a Flemish sculptor who worked in Italy and became the most important Mannerist sculptor in Florence

04/11/2024

THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893

Mercury / Germany, 16th century / marble, 27,5 x 10,7 cm / ATM 1230

The sculpture of Mercury from the Mimara Museum is made of marble with gilding. He is shown leaning lightly on a tree stump, wearing a cap with wings on his head, and probably holding a bag in his left hand as a symbol of merchants, abundance and financial gain.
Mercury became especially popular among the peoples conquered by the Roman Empire. The Romans associated him with the Germanic god Wodan (South German name, while the more famous North German name is Odin), whom the Roman historian Tacitus identified as the main god of the Germanic peoples. In Romance languages, Wednesday is named after Mercury (Italian mercoledì, French mercredi, Spanish miércoles, Romanian miercuri), and after the Germanic god Wodan, who is equated with Mercury, the name for Wednesday is used in English and Swedish (English Wednesday, Swedish onsdag).

31/10/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893

Statuette of Mercury / Italy, 16th century / silver, 20,7 x 13,5 cm / ATM 2293

Mercury (Greek name Hermes) is one of the 12 Dii Consentes (Harmonious Gods) – twelve main deities, six gods and six goddesses, in the pantheon of Ancient Rome. He is the Roman god of merchants, financial gain, abundance, travelers, luck, fraud and thieves. He also serves as a guide of souls to the underworld. He is most often depicted with a winged hat or winged sandals and holding a caduceus in his left hand (a staff entwined with two snakes, surmounted by wings symbolizing intelligence).
Mercury from the Mimara Museum is shown with a cornucopia in his right hand (cornucopia - in classical antiquity, the cornucopia was a symbol of abundance and food). A large basket horn, which he holds in his right hand, is full of fruits, flowers and nuts. On his head is a hat with wings, and in his left hand he once held a caduceus.

27/10/2024

Virtual exhibition: MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS FROM THE EUROPEAN SCULPTURE COLLECTION OF THE MIMARA MUSEUM
https://www.mimara.hr/aktualno/mythological-characters-from-the-european-sculpture-collection-of-the-mimara-museum_9893
Athena Pallas / Italy, 16th century / bronze, 26 x 9,5 cm / ATM 2283

Athena was the goddess of war, crafts and wisdom, patroness of the city of Athens, and her Roman counterpart was Minerva. She is shown in full armor, because according to legend she was born like this from the head of Zeus. She fought alongside Greek heroes and represented the skill and virtue of justice in warfare. She is depicted with an owl and a snake, as well as a helmet, a shield and a spear. Athena's epithet Pallas comes from Greek words meaning either to wave a weapon or a young woman, youth. Given that the original meaning of her epithet has been lost over the years, there are many myths and stories about the origin of the name Pallas.