The exhibition, set up by the Slovenian Museum of Natural History on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the polymath J. A. Scopoli, will be on display between 7 November and 15 December 2024 at the Infocentre of the Triglav Rose National Park in Bled. The opening of the exhibition will take place on Wednesday, 6 November 2024, at 19:00 hrs, when its co-author Špela Pungaršek will introduce this exceptional naturalist.

The exhibition elucidates the life of Joannes Antonius Scopoli (1723 -1788), a resolute naturalist who spent 15 of his most prolific years in Idrija. Scopoli, however, was not only a taxonomist and systematist, as he also drew knowledge from the people of Carniola and at the same time helped them with his observations and findings. Initially, he was fascinated by nature around Idrija, although he also wrote about the organisms inhabiting the Idrija mine. Eventually, his scholarly nature and scientific zeal erupted in him. He impetuously collected, researched and identified plant and animal species and often embarked on multi-day hikes in Carniola and Goriška. Most of the plants, fungi and animals that he observed in the field he eventually presented in his works.  He was the first to scientifically describe and name fungi, plants and animals recorded by him in Slovenian territory in a way that is still credible in science these days. He presented Carniolan species to the wider world in his works and promptly became an ambassador of Carniola’s nature. Owing to his publications, other researchers gradually began to visit Carniola, and he also enthused with local nature the adherents of the Carniolan Enlightenment, who in turn carried on with his work and soon crowned his naturalistic knowledge with the establishment of the Provincial Museum for Carniola. The names of the species that were named in his honour by the leading taxonomists of Europe also indicate how highly Scopoli was valued on this continent. His descriptions of the living world are also of nature conservation significance, as they reveal nature of Slovenia no less than 250 years ago. Hence, we can track species that have already become extinct in certain areas.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the publication Scopoli, Carniolan nature and the birth of modern natural science in Slovenia was also published, containing abundant pictorial material by numerous natural history photographers. It is available in the museum shop and in the online shop of the Slovenian Museum of Natural History.

With the visiting exhibition, the Museum also participates in the marking of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Alpine Conservation Park, the forerunner of Triglav National Park.