Anton Vlatković (1725? – Grobnik, 1785): An Unknown Painter Active in Rijeka and the Croatian Littoral, and His Family

Abstract

Mihovil Zierer (b. ? – d. April 28, 1739 in Grobnik) was the founder of a family of locally prominent woodcarvers and painters, active in Rijeka and the Croatian Littoral. He had three sons and two daughters: the eldest son, Anton Florentin, was a priest and canon of the collegiate church in Grobnik, Josip was an organifex, an organ builder, and Fran was a woodcarver like his father. Mihovil’s elder daughter, Marijana, was married to a Rijeka-based painter of Carniolan origin, Ivan Krstitelj Fayenz (b. 1690 in Višnja Gora – d. September 8, 1768 in Rijeka), and his younger daughter Elizabeta had a son named Anton (b. 1725? – d. 1785 in Grobnik) from her first marriage with a man called Vlatković. Anton was also a painter, but his opus has hitherto been completely unknown. In this paper, the following artworks have been attributed to him: St Luke Painting the Virgin (parish church of St Luke in Rukavac), St John the Baptist Preaching in the Desert (Church of Our Lady of the Port in Bakar), A Sick Man Praying to Saints Cosmas and Damian (Church of Sts Cosmas and Damian in Sv. Kuzam), and possibly St Aia (Dominican convent, formerly Augustinian monastery of St Jerome in Rijeka).