The Collection holds various objects made from metal, wood and textiles, and some made from glass, wax, ceramics, leather and alabaster. They were made in Croatia and abroad and date from the period between the 19th and the 20th century.
Many of objects are originate from the entire territory of the what used to be the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, and most of them were acquired by the National Museum between 1895 and 1920.
A relatively large number of objects came from Paulite monasteries: from Remete, Remetinac, Svetice, the former Paulite Church of St Mary by Ospa and the cathedral in Novi Vinodolski.
Metalwork forms the largest section of museum items, and it includes small objects like crosses, medallions and rosaries, as well as, to a lesser extent, vessels.
The textiles include chalice covers, stoles, and maniples, an 18th century cope acquired from the church in Ledenice, about a dozen chasubles, including two leather ones, as well as one chasuble dating from the beginning of the 16th century, significant because of its style, with an embroidered cross on stitches velvet.
Among the wooden objects – which include candlesticks, angels, reliefs, crucifix and statues – we need to mention the ‘Altar of the Conversion of St Paul’, with its exceptional size and quality of workmanship; the altar originally stood in St Mark’s Church in Zagreb, and two fairly recently purchased statues of saints made by the master woodcarver Ivan Komensteiner at the end of the 17th century.
Apart from objects from the Roman Catholic rite, the Collection also holds some items belonging to the Eastern Orthodox and Jewish rites.
The Collection of Religious Artefacts