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All Slovenia Radovljica Čebelarski muzej Radovljica (Museum of Apiculture)
AO Edited

Čebelarski muzej Radovljica (Museum of Apiculture)

This Slovenian museum houses the country's largest collection of painted beehive panels.

Radovljica, Slovenia

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Goat devours a man and shits him out.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Illustration of a local poem, the duel between Pegam and Lambergar.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
A motif that women would not have such sharp tongues they have unless devil sharpens them.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Devil steals a pot from a fireplace.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Tailors fleeing from a snail.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
A devil whetting a woman’s tongue.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Museum of Apiculture   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Čebelarski muzej Radovljica   Luka Esenko
Old beehive   Luka Esenko / Photohound
Renovated displays in the museum   Luka Esenko / Esenko Workshops
The Last Judgement.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Milling an old woman to a new one.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Devils doing household chores.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Panels descripting inverted world where animals are on the rule.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Animals carrying a hunter to his funeral.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Biblical themes of the Great Flood.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
Museum of Apiculture   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
An old beehive with painted frontal panel.   ahvenas / Atlas Obscura User
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About

These panels are a unique part of Slovenian folk art. The tradition of painting the frontal panels of beehives is a unique Slovenian tradition. The Museum of Apiculture’s collection includes more than 800 examples and is the richest in Slovenia.

These paintings present different motifs of everyday life, historical events, and relationships, but also illustrate folk tales, proverbs, and different religious themes.

The oldest panel is dated 1758, depicting the Pilgrim Mary. This tradition was most actively followed during the 19th century, roughly between 1820-1880, but it has faded during the 20th century due to changes in beekeeping technology. In the past, beehives were made by beekeepers themselves. Sometimes the painted panels were bought from rural painters, sometimes they were also done by the beekeepers.

The decorations were made with natural pigments and colors, therefore they faded over time. It's not entirely clear why this tradition of painting the front panels of beehives started. However, it represents an important testimony of folk imagination and ways of thinking in rural Slovenia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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Bees Art Art Museum History & Culture

Know Before You Go

The painted beehive panels are presented in some other local or ethnographic museums in Slovenia but the Museum of Apiculture in Radovljica has the most extensive collection on display.

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ahvenas

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Luka Esenko

  • Luka Esenko

Published

October 21, 2021

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  • https://mro.si/en/musem-of-apiculture/
Čebelarski muzej Radovljica (Museum of Apiculture)
1 Linhartov trg
Radovljica, 4240
Slovenia
46.340649, 14.17589
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