Sleeping Ariadne
The “Sleeping Ariadne” displayed at the museum is a reduced copy – possibly made after a copy – of one of the best-known female figures in antique sculpture. The existence of innumerable copies and variations of the statue, some of them dating back centuries, suggests that it was an extremely popular work of art even in antiquity. The original, currently situated in the Vatican Museum, was rediscovered in 1512; it was first displayed, according to the wish of Pope Julius II, in his Vatican Belvedere garden, where it was placed near the equally famous sculptures “Apollo of the Belvedere” and “Laocoon and His Sons”.
Like many antique sculptures rediscovered in the Renaissance, Ariadne fascinated art lovers and inspired numerous works of art. Even in the 18th–19th centuries, people were still enraptured by the beautiful shape of the sculpture, the posture of the woman in a state between sleep and wakefulness, and the story of trust born out of love, of being abandoned and finding new happiness. The most ardent art lovers had portraits made of themselves together with the statue or brought home copies to be able to see it every day. The sculpture at the Kadriorg Art Museum probably belonged to the art collection of a local 19th-century manor or town house.