Important Screen “the Metamorphoses Of Ovid”

Important wallpaper screen with panoramic décor “The Metamorphoses of Ovid”, manufactured by Joseph Dufour, circa 1790.

Dimensions: 3.40 m x 1.70 m.

Written by Ovid at the beginning of our era, The Metamorphoses comprises 246 fables in over 12,000 verses, divided into fifteen books, where—out of love or vengeance—gods, heroes, and mere mortals are transformed into animals, plants, rocks, stars, or trees.

Although the Middle Ages were fully familiar with Ovid’s text, it was not until the 16th century that artists began to draw inspiration from it, mainly through two illustrated editions: one published in 1471 in Italy, the other in 1553 in France.

The influence of this work on the arts has been profound and enduring, as illustrated by this panoramic wallpaper “The Metamorphoses of Ovid”, designed by Jean-Gabriel Charvet and printed by the renowned Joseph Dufour manufactory at the end of the 18th century.

Several panels of this panoramic décor are preserved today in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and in the Wallpaper Museum of Rixheim in Alsace