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Dalmatia
painted by Francesco Arrigoni
1832
Paper, gouache
44.4 x 64 cm
A large number of people dressed in folk costumes gathered in a plain below the Velebit Mountain; in the foreground there is a huge pavilion, with tents to the left. In the centre various competitions are taking place. The whole of the bottom part is taken up by the inscription: PATEFACTAM. VIAM-BEBIAM. FRANCISCI. PRIMI. IMPERATORIS. OPTIMI. ONOMSATICO. ANNI. MDCCCXXXII. DALMATIAE. MODERATOR. POPULI. QUE. CONCELEBRANT. The signature on the bottom right reads: F. Arrigoni dis. al luogo.
The road over the Mali Halan on Velebit was built by major Josip Kajetan Knezic, the military engineer in Dalmatia and Croatian Littoral. The road was officially opened on October 4th 1832. After the road was opened, a postal service was set up along it.
The author of this view, Francesco Arrigoni, is not mentioned in literature; he has left us a visually rich display of an important event with a wealth of information about the rich variety of folk costumes.
Added to the Museum Collection in 1971 through exchange with the Museum of Arts and Crafts from Zagreb.
M. Schneider, Narodne nosnje u slikarstvu i grafici XIX stoljeca, Zagreb, 1971, page 65, catalogue number 85.
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