An exhibition “Court of the Muses: Duchess Dorothea of Courland’s Salon at Löbichau Palace in Ernst Welker’s Caricatures” has been opened in Mežotne Palace, until 6 September providing visitors with the opportunity of learning more about the most striking aristocratic and intellectual salons of Europe in the 19th century. The exhibition is centred around the witty caricatures of Austrian artist Ernst Welker, created in the salon of Duchess Dorothea of Courland.
The exhibition is the first comprehensive project of this kind in Mežotne Palace since its transfer under supervision of the Rundāle Palace Museum and symbolically marks the first anniversary since re-opening of the palace to visitors. 7th of June marks one year since Mežotne Palace has been open to the public since after being closed for a long time.
Dorothea, Duchess of Courland and Semigallia, (1761–1821) was one of the most prominent European aristocrats of her time. Her salon at Löbichau Palace, Thuringia, Germany, was called the “Court of the Muses” and was known as the centre of sophisticated conversations, art, and intellectual life, gathering writers, artists, politicians, and aristocrats from different European countries.
The exhibition is centred around the caricatures of Austrian artist and graphic illustrator Ernst Welker (1784–1857) which were created during his stay at the salon of Dorothea in 1819 and 1820. The artist has provided a witty immortalisation of the characters, habits, and mutual relationship of the salon’s guests, creating a unique testimony of the aristocratic society of the time.
The exhibition was created in co-operation with the Posterstein Castle Museum in Germany and with the support of Groglass Ltd.
The curator of the exhibition is Līva Daniniece, head of the Department of Collections and Scientific Research of the Rundāle Palace Museum, the artist – Katrīna Vasiļevska, the curator of educational programmes of the exhibition – Inita Sondore, head of culture projects of the Rundāle Palace Museum in Mežotne Palace.
On 28 June, within the scope of the exhibition, a caricature drawing master class led by the visual arts teacher and caricaturist Bruno Bahs will take place in the Dome Hall of Mežotne Palace. Meanwhile, visitors will be invited to attend a concert and poetry reading “Tales from the Duchess’s Times – Dorothea and Elisa” in August, performed by the “Müthel Ensemble”.
More details about the events will be posted on the website of the Museum.
