Galeria Strossmayer is a fine arts museum located in the Croatia's capital city. The gallery presents to visitors a collection of paintings, donated to the city by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmaer in 1884. Stocks of the gallery is about 4000 works, of which only about 250 are on view and the rest are in storage. for viewing, and the rest are in storage or exhibited in other museums or galleries in Croatia.
The Strossmayer Old Masters Gallery opened in November 1884 and was named in honour of its founder. The gallery itself, with the bishop as patron, was established in 1860 and moved into purpose-built premises in 1880.
Bishop Strossmaer had been acquiring paintings for 30 years, from the time he was appointed as Bishop of Diakovo in 1850. He began with Italian art, mostly mostly Renaissance works from Florence and Venice. In 1870, he switched to 17th-century art. In 1868, he decided to donate his collection to the Croatian people by donating it to the Academy. The gallery was opened to the Croatian public in November 1884 and presented visitors with 256 works of art.
Throughout the years, the gallery's prestigious collection attracted more and more new donations, including from contemporary artists. In 1934. expansion led to the creation of the Gallery of Modern Art to house more later works.
The Strossmaier Gallery displays works by European artists from the 14th to 19th centuries. All works have been divided into three main groups: Italian, French Italian, French, and Northern European (German, Flemish, and Dutch).
In addition to the paintings, the Museum also houses the legendary Baska Pill, which is the oldest existing example of a Glagolitic script and, perhaps the most important artefact of Croatia.
A large statue of Bishop Strossmayer, made by Ivan Meštrović, is located in the park behind the Academy.
