The older part of the collection consisting of wooden sculptures is not homogeneous, since it has not been collected systematically. Already towards the end of the past century, the core of the Gothic sculpture unit was formed as part of the religious sculpture collection. It was bought for the Museum from the Vrbovec parochial church, while many items come also from private collections.

The other, quite extensive part of the collection came to the Museum through donations, as well as through purchase from rectories and other sources. They are mostly former altar sculptures, pulpits and other church furniture pieces remaining from the period of Baroque that were removed from churches and chapels. This part of the collection is particularly valuable because it originates entirely from northern Croatia introducing us to the Baroque sculpture of the area, as well as to the work of the local masters. Through their style and typology, most sculptures and decorative elements pertain to the Central European Baroque sculpture, particularly the eastern alpine one. Apart from foreign influences, local and naturalized authors were also reflecting the laws of their own midst, transferring them to their model's ideas and adapting them to the new environment. In the course of 17th and 18th c., local masters were the ones dominating the area of religious sculpture. The centers were mostly Zagreb and Varazdin, but also many smaller places and market-towns, such as Krizevci.

Towards the end of the 17th c., Zagreb was particularly dominated by the work of sculptor Ivan Komersteiner. He came from Ljubljana as an already experienced sculptor, and provided new altars for the Zagreb cathedral. The altars of St. Mary and St. Ladislas that were removed when the cathedral was redecorated in Gothic style are today kept within the Museum's holdings as a single whole.

In the 18th c., we may single out Zagreb's sculptors working in the City's wider surroundings: Klaudius Kautz in Marija Bistrica, and Antun Reiner in Pescenica. The extremely fertile sculptor's workshop managed by bishop Josip Branjug provided a number of altars in wider Zagreb surroundings. Fragments of the altar from Marija Bistrica are also kept within the Museum's holdings.

An important part of the holdings consists of sculptures from Drnje parochial church made by the local sculptor Stjepan Severin, whose works may be found in the churches from Cazma to Virovitica.

Apart from local sculptors, there were also several foreign ones active in Croatia, such as Vid Königer from Graz, Josip Holzinger from Maribor, and Ferdinand and Matija Gallo from Celje.