When does the exhibition take place in the Villa Rosenthal Jena?

The event is scheduled for Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 12 PM.

What does the exhibition The Grand Inquisitor display?

It showcases Bettina Schünemann's series of 40 works The Grand Inquisitor from 1990, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's literary character.

How much is the admission fee?

According to the event information, the admission is free.

What artistic techniques does Bettina Schünemann use?

The works combine paper, wallpapers, printed forms, and newspaper papers with gouache, watercolor paints, wax crayons, and pencils.

Where is the venue located?

The exhibition takes place at Villa Rosenthal Jena, Mälzerstraße 11, 07745 Jena.

Is the exhibition suitable for an art historical analysis?

Yes. The series opens a concentrated access to literature adaptation, collage, painting, material aesthetics, and the political questions of freedom and authority.

The Grand Inquisitor: When Freedom and Authority Confront Each Other in Jena

Name: Word Worlds|Image Worlds: The Grand Inquisitor
Start: 2026-10-29T12:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-10-29T13:00:00+01:00
Location: Villa Rosenthal Jena

Freedom or Authority? Bettina Schünemann’s compelling imagery in Jena

In the Villa Rosenthal Jena, literature and visual arts meet in the exhibition Word Worlds|Image Worlds: The Grand Inquisitor. Central to the exhibition is Bettina Schünemann's series of 40 works from 1990, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's famous literary character. The artistic experience delves into a question that remains critical to this day: Is mankind capable of freedom, or does it yearn for the security of authoritarian order?

A literary conflict turns into visual imagery

Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor embodies the contradiction between individual freedom, religious power, and human longing for certainty. As a guardian of the church and faith, the character doubts whether people actually want to accept the freedom that has been bestowed upon them. Bettina Schünemann translates this philosophical and political conflict into a concentrated psychological study of an authoritarian ruler.

The face of power

The artist focuses solely on the head of the Grand Inquisitor. This reduction gives the series a special intensity: the face becomes a battleground of doubt, control, hardness, and inner tension. In viewing the works, a compelling psychogram emerges, revealing less a historical scene than a mental state.

Collage, color, and fragile materiality

Schünemann uses paper as a medium and combines wallpapers, printed forms, and newspaper papers into multilayered collages. Gouache and watercolor paints meet wax crayons and pencils. The diverse materials create a tactile surface where private memory, societal reality, and political imagery overlap. Color, line, and fragmented text traces give the works a tense, almost physical spatial effect.

Art historical classification and contemporary relevance

The series belongs to an early major work in Bettina Schünemann's artistic output. Her method combines elements of painting, drawing, and collage into a distinct material aesthetics. Inspired by the political upheavals of 1989 and 1990, the exhibition also addresses the present: The question of freedom and authority gains new urgency in light of the cultural and political climate in Germany and worldwide.

Art experience in the Villa Rosenthal

The exhibition atmosphere of the Villa Rosenthal opens a focused space for aesthetic experience and cultural education. Visitors can experience the 40 works as a cohesive series, observe individual faces in their psychological density, and trace the dialogue between Dostoevsky's literature and Schünemann's visual language. The exhibition invites a critical examination of familiar notions of freedom, faith, and political order.

Conclusion: Word Worlds|Image Worlds: The Grand Inquisitor combines literary reflection with expressive painting, collage, and drawing. The result is an exhibition of great intellectual and visual tension, linking historical experiences with contemporary questions. Anyone wishing to experience art as a source of thought, sensual engagement, and cultural discourse should definitely visit this exhibition at the Villa Rosenthal Jena live.