U članku se obrađuju i prezentiraju ilustracije češkog slikara Karela Svobode (1824.– 1870.) nastale za nikad objavljeno djelo Ljudevita Gaja Dogodovština Ilirije Velike. Analiza Svobodinih drvoreza i crteža, sačuvanih u Zbirci rukopisa i starih knjiga Nacionalne i sveučilišne knjižnice u Zagrebu, uključuje ikonografsko određivanje i tumačenje prizora, njihovo postavljanje u kontekst kulturnopolitičkih zbivanja 1840-ih godina te početaka historijskog slikarstva u Hrvatskoj i na širem području Habsburške Monarhije.This paper features the first detailed analysis, evaluation and presentation of the illustrations of the Czech painter Karel Svoboda (1824–1870) that were created for the never-published work of the Croatian politician and writer, the Illyrian Ljudevit Gaj (1809–1872) Dogodovštine Ilirije Velike [The History of Greater Illyria]. Svoboda\u27s drawings for this monography are kept in the Manuscripts and Old Books Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb, where they arrived after the Croatian Provincial Government purchased Gaj’s bequest in 1892. All of Svoboda’s drawings are signed and dated, but they do not contain inscriptions that would suggest which scenes from the book they represent. However, Gaj’s munpublished manuscripts made it possible to conduct a content and iconographic analysis of the drawings. In addition to the cover of Dogodovštine Ilirije Velike, Svoboda illustrated Gaj\u27s monography with the following drawings: Scenes from the Story of the Golden Fleece, Roman Battles with the Histri, History of Illyria in the Reign of Emperors Octavian or Tiberius, the Illyrian Revolt against the Romans, Čeh, Leh and Meh, the Settlement of the Croats, Croats’ Fight against the Franks, Assassination of King Zvonimir, Oath of the Hungarian King Coloman to the Croatian Nobility, Gathering of the Slovenes and the Enthronement of the Carinthian Duke on Gosposvetsko polje, Miloš Obilić Kills Sultan Murat, the Church of the Ravanica Monastery in Serbia, and the Baptism of the Croats or the Oath of Nikola Šubić Zrinski before the Breakout from Sziget. In addition to the content and iconographic analysis of the illustrations, this text presents their stylistic and cultural-historical contextualization, especially with regard to the artistic and political circumstances in the Habsburg Monarchy. Just like Gaj’s text, the illustrations were supposed to emphasize the autochthonism of the South Slavs in their territory, their right to independence, and their long and rich history, all with the aim of securing the most favourable political position in modern times on the basis of historical and ethnic rights. Svoboda’s illustrations belong to the earliest examples of the so-called historical painting in Croatia. Many of the scenes depicted by this artist remained ubiquitous in this genre of painting in the subsequent decades
