Exhibition
16 October 2024 – 6 January 2024
Canellopoulos Museum
The CAMU, in collaboration with the Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments and the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, present for the first time to the Greek public the painting “Prometheus Unbound” from the Tatoi Estate Collection (Hellenic Ministry of Culture).
The monumental work (3.98 Χ 2.77 m.) is considered as the masterpiece of the Danish artist Carl Bloch and was made in 1864 for the young king George I, who commissioned it on his appointment to the Greek throne (1863). It depicts Prometheus freeing himself from the chains imposed to him by Zeus, while Hercules has just killed the eagle, which devoured daily the Titan’s liver. It is an allegorical work of the period of Romanticism, which is characterized by the dramatic expressions of the figures and the intense contrasts between dark and light.
The painting was exhibited for the last time in public at the Copenhagen Academy of Fine Arts in 1932 and then its tracks faded away. For that reason, some art historians considered it lost. However, in 2012 it was relocated by the Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture at the Tatoi Estate (former royal residence). Then, the long process of systematic conservation, study and scientific analysis started.
The exhibition presents the journey of the painting from its creation to today, provides information about the artist Carl Bloch and his era, explores the uses of the Promethean myth in ancient and modern art, and presents modern scientific methods that help us understand the painting. What is more, it offers the unique experience of viewing an imposing artwork, which attracts the view both for its scale and for its expressive power.
OPENING HOURS
Until 6 January 2025
Monday, Thursday-Sunday: 09.00-16.00
Wednesday: 09.00-18.00
Tuesday: closed
ADMISSION
With the standard museum ticket
GUIDED TOURS
Wednesday 16 October, at 11.00 & 12.00
European Day of Conservation-Restoration
Melina Fotopoulou (Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture)
Sunday 3 November, at 11.00 & 12.00
Eleni Margari (Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage, Hellenic Ministry of Culture)
(with simultaneous interpretation in the Greek sign language)
Thursday 21 November, at 12.30
Marilena Karabatea (Archaeologists-Museum Educator)
Tour for visitors with visual disabilities
Saturday 23 November, at 11.00 & 12.00
Melina Fotopoulou (Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments, Hellenic Ministry of Culture)
Sunday 24 November, at 11.00 & 12.00
Eleni Margari (Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage, Hellenic Ministry of Culture)
(with simultaneous interpretation in the Greek sign language)
Sunday 15 December, at 11.00
Marilena Karabatea (Archaeologists-Museum Educator)
Tour for visitors with visual disabilities
ADMISSION: with the museum ticket
BOOK A PLACE: 210 3319300 / press@camu.gr
