Figura contemplativa

The human figure is one of the oldest and most enduring themes in visual art. From prehistoric carvings and paintings to contemporary art projects, man repeatedly turns to his own form: observing it, stylizing it, idealizing it, but also questioning it. The human figure is therefore not only one of the most common motifs in art history, but also an important means through which art expresses how individual epochs understood man and his place in the world.

The depiction of the human body has never been merely a capture of external appearance. The human figure concentrates a number of meanings and opens up space for aesthetic, cultural, and psychological perception. Each of its renditions carries not only the imprint of the time in which it originated, but also the ideas, values, and questions that shaped that society. Therefore, it is not possible to understand images of the human body in a single, definitive way. Each epoch, each culture, and each viewer can discover new and different meanings in them.

Information about the exhibition

EXHIBITION: Figura contemplativa. The human body in art from antiquity to the present day from Patrik Šimon's collection

VENUE: Arcidiecézní muzeum Kroměříž / Arcibiskupský zámek Kroměříž

DATE: 11 06 2026 – 06 09 2026

OPENING: 11 06 2026 at 5:00 PM

AUTHORS: Miroslav Kindl, Patrik Šimon

CURATOR: Miroslav Kindl

GRAPHIC DESIGN: Petr Šmalec

INSTALLATION: Vlastimil Sedláček, Filip Šindelář, Ondřej Žák

PHOTOGRAPHY: Markéta Lehečková, Zdeněk Sodoma

The transformations in the depiction of the human figure also reflect deeper changes in European thought. In some periods, the human figure was understood primarily as an expression of order, harmony, and an ideal; at other times, it became a carrier of religious messages or moral instruction. In the modern era, the concept of man as a unique individuality with his own inner world prevailed, while modern and contemporary art often subjects the figure to deformation, fragmentation, or completely reinterprets it. The history of figural representation is thus also the history of changes in the image of man in European culture. If we follow the human figure across centuries, one of the key stories of European art unfolds before us: the journey from symbolic and established depiction to a deeper interest in reality, from ideal to individuality, and from a unified conception of the body to its multiplicity in modern and contemporary art.

The exhibition Figura contemplativa invites visitors, through exhibits from a private collection, to view this long and multilayered development. In individual chapters, it presents the main stages of European art — from antiquity through the Middle Ages and early modern period to the art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each of these periods brought its own idea of the human figure, its own aesthetic norms, and its own ways of expressing the fundamental questions of human existence through the figure.

The exhibition also includes a digital audio guide, which offers the choice between a curatorial selection or a special children's tour. The audio guide can be downloaded in the Cabinet of Wonders application.

• Audio guide to the exhibition – curatorial selection

• Audio guide to the exhibition – for children