Sometimes it is good when an art exhibition is not reduced to a predictable subject like “masterpieces of xx artist” or “the art of xx period.” Metamorphoses—an exhibition curated jointly by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Galleria Borghese in Rome—takes as its theme the famous book by antiquity poet Ovid, creating a bridge between centuries of art and literature and our modern sensibilities.

The original work by the Roman poet was an epic consisting of 15 books (“sections”), 250 myths and stories, and a thematic scope of the “history of the world” from the creation of mankind to Julius Caesar (Ovid was born at the beginning of Caesar’s reign). The myths and stories told by Ovid have served as inspiration for countless works of literature, including by Chaucer and most notably Shakespeare, as well as all the Renaissance and Baroque artists whose paintings, decorations, and sculptures illustrated Ovidian stanzas. His flowery poems have fed artists’ and writers’ imaginations for centuries. In the Renaissance, they dominated intellectual life, while during the Enlightenment they waned somewhat (Ovid was not then so popular). In later centuries, his tales again became fertile ground for realists, symbolists, and surrealists alike.

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