Friday 28 May 2010

Pompeii in Estonia

A new exhibition at the University of Tartu Art Museum, Estonia, opened yesterday. This is the oldest museum in Estonia, and the only one that holds classical antiquities - and its rooms are decorated in Pompeian-style wall-paintings:

Pompeii in Estonia
The walls of University of Tartu Art Museum were decorated with imitations of the original Pompeian mural paintings. Imitations of Pompeian mural paintings were highly fashionable at that time all over Europe, especially in Germany with whom Tartu was in close contact. The mural paintings in Univeristy of Tartu Art Museum were done by local painter F. Redlin after Johann K. Zahn's print album. In addition to Zahn's lithographic prints, the prints from Charles F. Mazois's album 'Les ruines de Pompéi' are displayed at the exhibition, as well as works from the collections of University of Tartu Art Museum and Art Museum of Estonia.

Check out the museum website for more photos of the rooms and their decoration.

2 comments:

Eugene Dwyer said...

Who is "Johann K. Zahn?" Wilhelm Zahn seems a more likely source. Can this be a confusion with an, admittedly, more famous namesake? Help!

Jo Berry said...

Well spotted, Gene, this must be a mistake! A quick Google search reveals one famous Johann Zahn who published 'Oculus artificialis teledriopticus sive telescopium' (first edition Nuremberg 1685) and worked as a canon at the Premonstratensian Monastery in Wurzburg (this was apparently the first comprehensive description of the functioning and application of optical instruments). Strange that a museum should get this mixed up ...

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