Tallinn Trip – Kadriorg Art Museum
I’ve finished my series of artwork posts for the moment, so just one to tie them all together and bring this exploration of the visual realm to a temporary end. We got in this art gallery free of charge because we had the Tallinn Card, something that proved to be excellent value during our few days in the city.
The Kadriorg Art Museum, a rather lovely specimen of Baroque architecture nestled within Tallinn’s equally splendid Kadriorg Park. Although an art gallery now, it was originally a palace built for a Tsar, Peter the Great, to be precise, a man not known for his minimalist tastes. Peter the Great believed that Russia’s future lay as a European country, but I’d better not get further entangled with that little debate.
Constructed in the early 18th century, this palace is something of a delightful confection of pastel colours, ornate details, and enough columns to satisfy even the most ardent Greco-Roman enthusiast. It boasts a rather impressive collection of European and Russian art, spanning from the 16th to the 20th century, including Flemish masters, Italian virtuosos and some Russian talent as well.
Designed by the renowned architect Nicola Michetti, the palace is certainly opulent, but the Russian Royal family showed little interest in it after Peter the Great had died. Its façade is grand and adorned with intricate stuccowork, whilst the palace’s interior is equally impressive, featuring a grand hall with soaring ceilings, ornate plasterwork and allegorical paintings inspired by the French court of Louis XIV. It’s not really the sort of place that I’d fancy living in, those high ceilings would be a bit much for me I think. I can imagine that Richard, who I don’t think is reading this, would rather fancy himself in here though holding his soirees. As a gallery, I thought it was a useful place to meander around.
As for our little group, Steve and I walked to get the bus back to the hotel, whilst Bev and Susanna spent more hours than are healthy meandering around it for a little longer before they powered up CityMapper and wandered around a bit lost. Ross had long since gone back to the hotel, his interest in galleries had waned much earlier on. Anyway, that’s my series of artworks posts finished (treat them as something of a palate cleanser), at least for the moment. I think this blog needs a bit more food, so that can be the next post. Always willing to put in a bit of anticipation for my two loyal blog followers.
