Nadgrobni spomenici na području povijesne Zagrebačke biskupije od XV. do XVIII. stoljeća

Tomb monuments represent a specific branch of sculptural art in which secular and religious content intertwine. With their inscriptions and visual imagery, they fulfill a threefold function: they keep the memory of the deceased (commemorative function), display the deceased person's social status (representative function), and reflect the contemporary belief in salvation and resurrection of the soul (eschatological function). Tombs represent an important segment of the early-modern-period sculptural production in continental Croatia, especially that of the 15th and 16th centuries. So far, researchers have mostly dealt with the topic in a positivist manner, listing the monuments topographically and describing their appearance, devoting greater attention only to the most representative examples. This study aims to provide a more synoptic approach to tombs as a sculptural task that will include: monuments' stylistic, iconographic, and comparative analysis; the context of their commission and production; possible visual and iconological sources and models; and the influence of contemporary visual media on monuments' stylistic and formal development. The study comprises tomb monuments that were erected in the historical Diocese of Zagreb from the 15th to the 18th century, but only those that contain at least one figural motif. Throughout centuries, tombs were frequently removed from church interiors, mostly because of (re)constructions and renovations. Consequently, an unknown number of them has been lost. In an attempt to reconstruct the original corpus to the greatest extent possible, the study includes monuments that have not been preserved but whose appearance has been documented in written and/or visual sources. In the corpus analysis, art-historical (close examination; physical description; stylistic, iconographic, and comparative analysis) and historical methods (archival research) have been used with the goal of contextualising and assessing the monuments within the framework of Croatian and Central European early modern-period sculptural art