Art History Collections

The oldest mention of collecting works of art dates back to the second half of the 15th century, when early humanistic ideas became rooted in the region. The idea for the first museum is connected with the enlightenment movement in the mid-18th century. The grand exhibition “Prima Esposizione Istriana” of 1910 in Koper signifies the birth of the museum, which formed its first collections under the auspices of the convent of St. Clare. At the exhibition, which was otherwise of an economic nature, a few of the rooms were dedicated to Istrian art. In 1919, all of the material was transferred to the representative palace in the centre of town, where the Regional Museum of Koper is based.

The greatest wealth of Istrian artistic heritage is being discovered in former littoral trade centres in close connection with La Serenissima. The greatest naval power in the Adriatic encountered diverse types of cultural ambience and brought the colourfulness of the Mediterranean creative genius to the heart of Europe. For centuries, Istrian towns and their hinterlands were ruled by Byzantine and German emperors and their feudal lords under the Patriarchate of Aquileia, and from the end of the 14th century onwards under the Hapsburg Monarchy. The flow and infusion of northern artistic trends with the colourfulness of the light effects of Venetian grandeur have created the conditions for a special form of art in these regions that is recognisable in the select treasury of European civilisations.

The urban centres along the coasts of Istria, as heirs of a Mediterranean, specifically Venetian culture, reveal a respectful heritage during any intimate talk with a traveller in the narrow streets or in the white, stone squares. The regional artistic expression and the vivacity of the colour palette in the town ambience, in an individual detail of the ornaments or in the total work of art in the sacral milieu, often achieve exquisite creations and contents that are otherwise known in the big artistic centres.

Several generations of experts at the Regional Museum of Koper are dedicating special attention to valuable relics of the past with permanent collections in the Belgramoni - Tacco Palace, which, combined, present a few selected chapters of the artistic volition at the meeting point of different ethnic communities with the Romance world.