Biography
Born in Sisak in 1958, Milan Pelc graduated from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb in 1984 in German language and Art History. He received his Master's degree from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb in 1988 on the topic of Illustrations of Croatian Protestant Books Printed in Urach 1561-1565. He received his Ph. D. from the same Faculty in Zagreb in 1992 with a thesis entitled The Life and Work of the Šibenik Engraver Martin Rota Kolunić (c. 1540-1583). From June 1985 to December 1988, he worked as a librarian in the Department of Old and Rare Books and Manuscripts of the National and University Library in Zagreb (he passed the professional examination for librarians in October 1987). From January 1989 to February 1993 he was employed as a research assistant at the Department of Art History at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. Since March 1993 he has been employed at the Institute of Art History in Zagreb, where he was director from 2003 to 2018. After that, he remained at the Institute as a scientific adviser in a permanent position. In January 2024 he retired from the Institute of Art History as scientist emeritus.
As a lecturer at the University of Zagreb, he taught at several faculties: at the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, the course “History and Methods of Art History”, at the Department of Information Science of the same faculty, the courses “History of Information Culture” and “Graphics as an Information Medium”, at the Department of Design at the Faculty of Architecture, the course “Visual Culture”, at the Faculty of Croatian Studies, the course “Croatian Artists in Europe from the 15th to the 18th Century”. As a mentor and lecturer he participated in doctoral studies at the Department of Art History at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb and in Zadar.
He has participated with presentations at more than 70 international and national scientific conferences. He has held a number of professional and scientific lectures in the country and abroad (Tübingen, Prague, Graz, Hamburg, Leipzig, Jerusalem, Ljubljana, Maribor, Vienna). He has published over 160 scientific and professional papers in national and international journals.
Scholarships: DAAD (Deutscher akademischer Austauschdienst) scholar, University of Tübingen 1987-1988; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation scholar at the University of Tübingen (1994–1995), Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich (2005, 2008, 2014). On several occasions, he has received a scholarship from the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel. He realized study visits in: Paris, London, Florence, Venice, Vienna and Leipzig.
Areas of Scientific Research: History of European and Croatian Printmaking and Book Illustrations in the Early Modern Period (1400–1700); the history of Croatian printmaking in the 19th and early 20th centuries; the period of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Croatia and Europe; history and theory of art history; the history of books and visual media; History of miniature painting.
Published books
Andrija Medulić Schiavone. Grafički genij manirizma / Andrea Meldolla Schiavone. Printmaking Genius of Mannerism, co-author Achim Gnann, Muzej likovne umjetnosti, Osijek, 2023. (croatian and engliesh edition)
Minijature u misalima zagrebačkoga biskupa Jurja od Topuskog / Miniatures in the Missals of the Bishop of Zagreb George of Topusko, Institut za povijest umjetnosti, Sisačka biskupija, Zagreb – Sisak, 2018. (hrvatsko i englesko izdanje)
Sibila Katarine Zrinske, AGM, Zagreb, 2017.
Cimelia Metropolitana. Povijest i knjižno blago Knjižnice Zagrebačke nadbiskupije / Cimelia Metropolitana. The History and Treasures of the Zagreb Archdiocese Library, Institut za povijest umjetnosti, Prvostolni kaptol zagrebački, Zagreb, 2016. (co-authors Vladimir Magić and Mirna Abaffy; croatian and english edition)
Theatrum humanum. Ilustrirani letci i grafika 17. stoljeća kao zrcalo vremena. Primjeri iz Valvasorove grafičke zbirke Nadbiskupije zagrebačke, Naklada Ljevak, Zagreb, 2013.
Theatrum humanum. Illustrierte Flugblätter und Druckgraphik als Spiegel der Zeit. Beispiele aus dem Bestand der Sammlung Valvasor des Zagreber Erzbistums, Studia Jagellonica Lipsiensia 12, Ostfildern, Thorbecke Verlag, 2013.
Povijest umjetnosti u Hrvatskoj, Naklada Ljevak, Zagreb, 2012.
Iconotheca Valvasoriana, sv. VI, Fundacija Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Ljubljana, 2008.
Renesansa, edicija Povijest umjetnosti u Hrvatskoj, Naklada Ljevak, Zagreb, 2007.
Iconotheca Valvasoriana, sv. VII, Fundacija Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Ljubljana, 2005.
Iconotheca Valvasoriana, sv. VIII, Fundacija Janez Vajkard Valvasor, Ljubljana, 2005.
Horacije Fortezza, šibenski zlatar i graver 16. stoljeća, Institut za povijest umjetnosti – Gradska knjižnica Juraj Šižgorić, Zagreb – Šibenik, 2004.
Martin Rota Kolunić – Natale Bonifacio, djela u hrvatskim zbirkama, katalog izložbe, Kabinet grafike HAZU, Zagreb, 2003.
Illustrium imagines. Das Porträtbuch der Renaissance, Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden, 2002.
Pismo. Knjiga. Slika. Uvod u povijest informacijske kulture, Golden Marketing, Zagreb, 2002.
Fontes Clovianae. Julije Klović u dokumentima svoga doba, Matica Hrvatska, Zagreb, 1998.
Juraj Julije Klović u grafici, katalog izložbe, Kabinet grafike HAZU, Zagreb, 1998. (english edition: Prints after Gulio Clovio)
Život i djelo šibenskog bakroresca Martina Rote Kolunića, Nacionalna i sveučilišna knjižnica, Zagreb, 1997.
Natale Bonifacio, Institut za povijest umjetnosti Zagreb – Gradska knjižnica „Juraj Šižgorić“, Zagreb – Šibenik, 1997.
Biblija priprostih. Ilustracije hrvatskih i slovenskih protestantskih knjiga 16. stoljeća, Institut za povijest umjetnosti, Zagreb, 1991.
Awards
- 1999 State Award for Science of the Republic of Croatia
- 2008 “Radovan Ivančević” Annual Award of the Croatian Society of Art Historians
- 2008 “Oton Kučera” Award of Matica Hrvatska; “Josip Juraj Strossmayer” Award of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Zagreb Fair; “Kiklop” Award of the Pula Festival of Books and Authors
- 2024. Annual Award of the Society of Art Historians of Croatia.
For a more complete bibliography, visit profile at CroRIS – Croatian Scientific Research Portal.