Metamorphoses at the Rijksmuseum
The exhibition Metamorphoses shows how artists have been inspired for centuries by the grand poem of the Roman poet Ovid. More than 80 masterpieces from artists including Titian, Correggio, Cellini, Caravaggio, Rubens, Rodin, Brancusi, Bourgeois, and Bernini are brought together for this exhibition, coming from museums and collections worldwide. The exhibition is created in collaboration with Galleria Borghese in Rome. The exhibition will be on display at the Rijksmuseum from February 6 to May 25, 2026.
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Hermaphroditus from the Louvre
The Roman statue (2nd century AD) was excavated in the spring of 1618 and offered to Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Scipione Borghese then asked the Italian sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598ÔÇö1680) to give the reclining statue a suitable pedestal. With an equally simple and brilliant intervention, Bernini appropriated the ancient statue: he gave the statue a contemporary mattress and pillow made of marble that slightly indented under the weight of Hermaphroditus. The result is an overwhelming naturalism, which the sculptor also applied in the other works he created for Scipione in the following years. Since the sale of the statue in the early 19th century, the Sleeping Hermaphroditus has been part of the collection of the Louvre.
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The story from the Metamorphoses
The merging of the nymph Salmacis and Hermaphroditus is one of 250 stories that Ovid described in his magnum opus Metamorphoses. Salmacis, who lived in a clear spring, instantly fell in love with the handsome boy Hermaphroditus. When Hermaphroditus rejected her aggressive advances, she did not let herself be discouraged. She begged the gods to unite them forever. Her wish was granted. While Hermaphroditus bathed in the spring, Salmacis embraced him. Their bodies merged into one. Thus, Hermaphroditus became both man and woman. The story shows the darker side of lust, desire, and power.
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