Literature & Fine Arts
Literature
Croatian medieval literature, unique in being produced in three languages (Latin, Old Slavonic and the vernacular) and three scripts (Roman, Glagolitic and Cyrillic) developed from the 8th to 16th century in the form of poetry, verse dialogue and representations of valuable literary works, mostly based on liturgical and religious themes. Towards the end of the 15th century, new poetic standards began to be accepted: themes, forms and types which characterised Renaissance literature, in accordance with Italian literary developments. The basis for this was the literary output of the Croatian Latinists, through whom humanism was introduced. Outstanding writers included the poets Ilija Crijević (Aelius Lampridius Cervinus) and Jan Panonac (Jannus Pannonius), who had a fine understanding of linguistic and literary traditions.
In the first decades of the 16th century, Croatian literature fitted perfectly in Renaissance European trends, particularly in Dalmatia, where several creative circles formed: in Split (Marko Marulić), Šibenik (Juraj Šižgorić), Dubrovnik (Šiško Menčetić, Džore Držić, Mavro Vetranović, Nikola Nalješković, Marin Držić, Dinko Ranjina, Dominko Zlatarić), Hvar (Hanibal Lucić, Petar Hektorović, Mikša Pelegrinović, Martin Benetović) and Zadar (Petar Zoranić, Barne Karnarutić). Marko Marulić was there at the inception, selecting many medieval themes, but adapting them in new forms and under the influence of lay ‘modern devotion’ (devotio moderna), creating works like the moralist essay De institutione bene vivendi, and epics like Davidias and Judita, for which he was acclaimed as a prominent representative of European Christian humanism and the Renaissance epic. Along with the dominant lyrical, Petrarchan expression of the period, Zoranić’s Planinestands apart, the first original Croatian novel, Hektorović’s Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje, a fishing eclogue written in the form of an epistle, and the dramatic works of Marin Držić, particularly the comedies Novela od Stanca, Dundo Marojeand Skup.
Croatian medieval literature, unique in being produced in three languages (Latin, Old Slavonic and the vernacular) and three scripts (Roman, Glagolitic and Cyrillic) developed from the 8th to 16th century in the form of poetry, verse dialogue and representations of valuable literary works, mostly based on liturgical and religious themes. Towards the end of the 15th century, new poetic standards began to be accepted: themes, forms and types which characterised Renaissance literature, in accordance with Italian literary developments. The basis for this was the literary output of the Croatian Latinists, through whom humanism was introduced. Outstanding writers included the poets Ilija Crijević (Aelius Lampridius Cervinus) and Jan Panonac (Jannus Pannonius), who had a fine understanding of linguistic and literary traditions.
In the first decades of the 16th century, Croatian literature fitted perfectly in Renaissance European trends, particularly in Dalmatia, where several creative circles formed: in Split (Marko Marulić), Šibenik (Juraj Šižgorić), Dubrovnik (Šiško Menčetić, Džore Držić, Mavro Vetranović, Nikola Nalješković, Marin Držić, Dinko Ranjina, Dominko Zlatarić), Hvar (Hanibal Lucić, Petar Hektorović, Mikša Pelegrinović, Martin Benetović) and Zadar (Petar Zoranić, Barne Karnarutić). Marko Marulić was there at the inception, selecting many medieval themes, but adapting them in new forms and under the influence of lay ‘modern devotion’ (devotio moderna), creating works like the moralist essay De institutione bene vivendi, and epics like Davidias and Judita, for which he was acclaimed as a prominent representative of European Christian humanism and the Renaissance epic. Along with the dominant lyrical, Petrarchan expression of the period, Zoranić’s Planinestands apart, the first original Croatian novel, Hektorović’s Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje, a fishing eclogue written in the form of an epistle, and the dramatic works of Marin Držić, particularly the comedies Novela od Stanca, Dundo Marojeand Skup.
Examples:
Marko Marulić (1450–1524), the most significant Croatian writer of the 15th and 16th centuries; his Latin moralist tract De institutione bene vivendi per exempla sanctorum (‘On the institution of living well according the examples of the saints’) brought him worldwide fame and his Judita, the first artistic epic in Croatian literature, written in Croatian, earned him the title ‘father of Croatian literature’.
Marin Držić (1508–67), a skilled playwright, whose opus on the margins of his time became part of the Croatian literary canon through the force of its original artistic truth.
Among the better known works in the opus of Ivan Gundulić (1589–1638) is the ending of the pastorale Dubravka, a famous hymn to liberty, which is performed at the opening of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
Fine Arts
Works preserved from the oldest stylistic periods bear witness to the continuity of creativity and to the talents of local people, and place the Croatian art and architecture heritage on an equal footing with the main components of world creative output.