‘Everything changes, nothing dies,’ Ovid wrote in his epic poem the Metamorphoses. Throughout the narrative, humans transform themselves (or are transformed) into animals, plants and inanimate objects – and all manner of creatures turn into humans. The poem has had a profound effect on artists and writers; in 1604, the Dutch painter Karel van Mander described it as ‘a Bible for artists’. The Galleria Borghese is celebrating its influence by bringing together some 45 works that depict the figures, themes and stories in Ovid’s poem (23 June–20 September). The exhibition began at the Rijksmuseum and has itself undergone a metamorphosis on its way to Rome. The more streamlined display here does not include any contemporary art and, although there are some major loans – including Rodin’s marble sculpture Pygmalion and Galatea (1908–09), from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York – this show is oriented more around the Galleria Borghese’s extraordinary collection of baroque sculptures, among them Bernini’s Rape of Proserpine (1621–22) and Apollo and Daphne (1622–25).
Find out more from the Galleria Borghese’s website.
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