Evening Tour of the “Metamorphoses” Exhibition at Kadriorg Art Museum

An evening tour of the exhibition offers a special opportunity to explore it in a small group, in the quiet of the closed museum, accompanied by an art historian. The poem Metamorphoses by the ancient Roman poet Ovid is often called the “Bible of artists”. This collection of more than 250 myths is one of the most influential and extensive literary sources of mythological subjects. It is the source of the famous and frequently reinterpreted myths of Narcissus, Apollo and Daphne, Jupiter’s love affairs, and the many miraculous transformations that have inspired artists for centuries. To some extent, everyone is familiar with Ovid’s work, since it has played a major role in shaping our modern understanding of ancient mythology.

The exhibition takes as its starting point the decorative interior of the state hall at Kadriorg Palace, in particular the central ceiling painting “Diana and Actaeon”, which depicts one of the best-known myths from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. During the tour, we will consider interpretations of this and other myths in the broader context of 18th-century court culture and European cultural history. We will also trace how European monarchs and various social groups in the 17th and 18th centuries used Ovid’s work and the poet’s biography for ideological purposes.

Historical books and works of art on loan to the exhibition from the collections of Manufactures nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national (France), the National Gallery Prague, the University of Tartu Library, the National Library of Latvia and other collections demonstrate how diverse a source of inspiration myths were for secular works of art across a wide range of genres, moods and moral messages.

The exhibition is accompanied by a book which, alongside rich illustrative material, includes six of Ovid’s myths published in Estonian translation for the first time. The poetic translations from Latin were made by Maria-Kristiina Lotman, a classical philologist and associate professor of classical philology at the University of Tartu.

Marianna Nõmmik has been leading tours for several years at branches of the Art Museum of Estonia: KUMU, Kadriorg Palace and Niguliste Museum. She is currently furthering her studies in the Art History and Visual Culture department at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

Tickets: €22 / €20

Advance tickets are available through the Fienta platform. If places are still available, tickets can also be purchased at the Kadriorg Art Museum ticket office one hour before the event begins.