Changing Shapes: Metamorphosis in Art
- Dates
- Friday 16 October 2020 (10:00) - Sunday 31 January 2021 (17:00)
'Latona and the Frogs' by Magdalena van de Passe, 1633. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, 2020.
Print bay display.
More than 250 myths are woven together through themes of psychological and physical transformation – as well as love, pursuit and punishment – to create ‘Metamorphoses’ (8AD) an epic poem by Ovid (43BC – 17AD), who was the leading poet in Rome under the reign of Augustus.
Stirring European artists for centuries, these ambitious themes have made the poem more widely illustrated than any other book from the ancient world, except the Bible.
Bringing together prints and drawings inspired by Ovid’s writing, this display draws on the Barber’s collection: from mid-16th-century Flemish etchings to an early 20th-century drawing by French artist André Derain, and a 1950s print by German Surrealist Max Ernst.
The Barber Institute is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00.
Free; booking is essential. Book your visit to the gallery now.