Evening tour of the exhibition "Metamorphoses. Power. Violence. Gender" at the Kadriorg Art Museum

The evening exhibition tour is a special chance to see the show in a small group, in the quiet of the closed museum, guided by an art historian. Ovid's Metamorphoses has been called the artists' bible: this collection of more than 250 myths is one of the most influential sources of mythological stories. The familiar myths of Narcissus, Apollo and Daphne, and Jupiter's love affairs come from here, and have inspired artists for centuries.

The exhibition starts from the ceiling painting 'Diana and Actaeon' in the main hall of Kadriorg Palace. On the tour we place it and other interpretations of the myths in the wider context of 18th-century court culture and European cultural history, and examine how European rulers and interest groups used Ovid's work for ideological purposes. Historic books and artworks lent by several collections, including Manufactures nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national, the National Gallery in Prague and the Tartu University Library, show how varied the myths have been as material for secular art.

The exhibition comes with a richly illustrated book with six Ovid myths published in Estonian for the first time, translated from Latin by classical philologist Maria-Kristiina Lotman. Curator Kerttu Männiste has curated several exhibitions at Kadriorg Art Museum, the Mikkeli Museum and the Adamson-Eric Museum.

Tickets: €22 / €20. Advance tickets on Fienta; if places are available, tickets are sold at the Kadriorg Art Museum box office one hour before the start.