Art in the Flow of Time: Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” Exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is hosting one of the most significant exhibitions of the year — “Metamorphoses.” Prepared in collaboration with the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the exposition explores the influence of Publius Ovidius Naso’s poem on art over the last two millennia.

The central idea of the exhibition is Ovid’s main thought: “Nothing remains unchanged, everything flows and is transformed.” It is this philosophy of eternal motion and transformation that has become one of the most powerful sources of inspiration for artists of various eras — from the Renaissance to the present day.

The poem “Metamorphoses,” written around 8 AD, consists of 15 books and contains more than 250 myths. Ovid collected almost all known Greco-Roman stories of transformations: people becoming trees, animals, flowers, rivers, and constellations. Through these stories, he showed that the world is in constant change, and the boundaries between man, nature, and the divine are extremely fluid.

At the exhibition in the Rijksmuseum, this idea is revealed through a dialogue of eras. More than 80 outstanding works of art demonstrate how masters of different times interpreted Ovidian myths. Canvases by Titian and Caravaggio, marble sculptures by Bernini, and works by Rodin, Brancusi, Magritte, and Louise Bourgeois sit side by side here. Special attention is paid to contemporary interpretations — video installations, photographs, and objects in which ancient plots are reimagined through the prism of today’s themes: identity, body transformation, gender, and power.

The exhibition's curator, Frits Scholten, notes: “‘Metamorphoses’ is not just a collection of myths. It is a philosophy of the world’s mutability. We show how artists throughout the centuries returned to Ovid when they wanted to say something important about human nature.”

The exhibition occupies several rooms of the Rijksmuseum and is organized thematically — “Passion,” “Desire,” “Transformation,” “Power,” and “Eternity.” Visitors can trace how the same myth (for example, the story of Apollo and Daphne or Pygmalion) receives completely different interpretations in different eras.

After Amsterdam, the exhibition will travel to Rome, where it will be shown at the Galleria Borghese.

“Metamorphoses” at the Rijksmuseum is not just a retrospective, but a deep reflection on the nature of art and humanity. In an era when the boundaries between reality and virtuality, the body and technology are constantly blurring, Ovid’s poem sounds particularly relevant, reminding us that transformation is an eternal law of existence.