Formation of an early modern regional artistic centre: the case of Ljubljana

The project aims to develop a methodological framework for researching regional artistic centres, and to present a model study of an early modern town. With its location at the junction of cultures and at the crossroads of trade routes, Ljubljana as the capital of the Habsburg province of Carniola serves as an excellent sample case. The main objective is thus to comprehensively study the circumstances and levers that contributed to transformation of Ljubljana into a ‘regional artistic centre. Further objectives are 1. In-depth research into the changing area of influence of Ljubljana as an artistic centre, based on comparative study of commissions and artists’ oeuvres. 2. A list of migrating artists, their itineraries, and the circumstances of their immigration. 3. To comparatively analyse the patronage and collecting practices in and outside Ljubljana, with a special emphasis on geography as well as demographic and social contexts. The project draws from the notion of a regional artistic centre as a town inhabited by artists and artisans whose commissions and oeuvres extend beyond the mother province. The artistic impact of such an art centre is significantly smaller from the large art capitals (such as Venice, Rome, Antwerp etc.), which have been, in contrast to smaller provincial regions, such as Ljubljana, subject to extensive and versatile target scholarship. The work program is clearly structured, consisting of four closely intertwined working packages: WP A will establish a definition and the framework of a novel methodology to serve as a point of origin in studies of other smaller regional art centres in Central Europe and beyond. WP B encompasses studies of the most significant phenomena in Ljubljana, such as immigration of artists and rapid social advance of patrons. North Italian architects, Netherlandish painters and their clients in Ljubljana, and stonemasons from Gorizia will be subject to case studies, with a special emphasis on demographic, social and geographical aspects. WP C and WP D will provide concluding analyses and synthesis, and discussion and dissemination, respectively. The project team consists of art historians and a historian in different stages of their careers (a doctoral student, postdocs, experienced and senior researchers), all specialising in early modern period, thus with a high potential for optimal knowledge exchange. The team members’ affiliations enable a direct dissemination of the results into all three levels of art history university study programs at the Universities of Ljubljana and Maribor. The offer high potential for immediate dissemination beyond Slovenia. The involvement and exchange of knowledge wit a wider international research community is ensured by means of an introductory international workshop, international conference in the second year, as well as the well-established international networks of the team members. The project has a large potential to contribute significantly to decentralising art histories. Moreover, it offers new possibilities for researching early modern art and patronage in Central Europe and beyond. In view of the socioeconomic objectives, the project will contribute to the development of cultural tourism, as well as within the activities related to protection of cultural heritage, museum programmes, and teaching on all levels and different target groups. In addition to individual articles in internationally indexed journals, the discussion and project results are planned from the very beginning of the project, starting with an introductory international workshop, the interim workshop and international conference, the exhibition on Baroque art in the National Gallery and the National Museum of Slovenia, an accompanying monograph on Baroque art in Slovenia, and a manuscript for a book on Baroque Ljubljana, which will be published in a year after the conclusion of the project.