03.10.2025
On the path to Heaven
On Saturday, September 27, the Šibenik audience was presented with the commendable book “On the Path to Heaven – Cultural Heritage, History and Legacy of the Šibenik Benedictines”.
This is a book by the young author Ana Plenča, MA in Art History, about the Benedictine Monastery of St. Lucia in Šibenik, which has been operating for 385 years.
With this monograph, the author wanted to highlight its cultural and historical significance. She reviewed the monastery’s collection of art, so the book is divided into chapters on icons, sculpture, painting and altars, most of which have not been reviewed before.
As the author herself states in the book, from the very beginning of the order, Benedictine monks paid great attention to culture and art, transforming their monasteries into treasuries of knowledge, and they left an indelible mark on the Šibenik area.
Ana Plenča was born in Zagreb, where she completed elementary school and Classical Gymnasium. In 2021, she earned a bachelor’s degree in art history and Turkology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb. She continued her studies in the Renaissance and Baroque module. In September 2024, she graduated in art history with a research topic of “The Collection of the Benedictine Monastery of St. Lucia in Šibenik”.
During her studies, she published the art history monograph “She Who Breaks the Fetters – the Vrpolje Sanctuary Through the Ages” (2023). She is the author of several scientific and review works on Croatian art, primarily in Dalmatia. In addition to her scientific and research work in the field of art history, she works as a journalist in the field of culture and participates in the organization and setting of exhibitions.
The program was moderated by Prof. Jolanda Krnić Zmijanović.
The presentation was also attended by the Bishop of Šibenik, Msgr. Tomislav Rogić, and the abbess of the monastery, Sister Fortunata, who addressed the audience.
