Juraj Julije Klović (born in Grižane , Dalmatia 1498, died in Rome 1578), known worldwide as Giulio Clovio, was possibly the greatest miniature painter of his time.

Klovi&#263 was one of the most illustrious Croats. The renowned Giorgio Vasari, the first art critic of the modern world, considered Klović to be the greatest miniaturist of the time and included him within his famed artists' biographies (second edition, 1568).

El Greco, a celebrated Greek artist from Spain, who painted with crepuscular and mystical atmospheres, painted a portrait of Klović and enlisted him as one of the four painters whom he himself considered as his teachers—side by side with Michelangelo, Tizian and Raphael. Juraj Julije Klović was also known as Michelangelo of the miniature. Codexes with his miniatures became famous primarily due to his skilled illustrations. He was curiously persuasive in transferring the entire multilayered look that was present in the famous pictures of the Italian high Renaissance into the miniature format.

Some books illustrated by him are kept in large libraries, such as the Vatican Library in Rome, as well as in London, Vienna, New York, Munich, and Paris, while other figures are parts of many private collections. A small part of his work is viewable in Klovićevi Dvori ("Palace of Klović"), the art gallery dedicated to him in Zagreb.

He worked in Venice , Florence and elsewhere, with a long active period in Rome. His grave is in the Church of San Pietro in Vincola , the same church that keeps celebrated Michelangelo's Moses. Under Klović's bust, beside his name, is written the name of his homeland, which he always emphasized: Julio Clovio de Croatia.

External links

• Klovicevi Dvori Gallery
• Juraj Julije Klović - In German
• Juraj Julije Klović Comemorative Coins-in English
• Croatian Museums & galleries