The Niguliste Museum celebrates its 40th anniversary with a concert by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and lectures by art historians
The Niguliste Museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia, opened to the public on 21 November 1984. The museum celebrates its fortieth anniversary with jubilee events, an audience day and a concert by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir.
Located in the heart of Tallinn’s Old Town, Niguliste carries a number of symbolic meanings. The former church and the current museum form a symbol of the destruction of World War II and an extraordinary story of restoration, a monument to Estonian art historians and heritage conservationists.
“The restoration of St Nicholas’ Church, which fell into ruins eighty years ago, took forty years, involving several generations of Estonian heritage conservationists, art historians and restorers. As a result, Niguliste has become an important memory site, a place that holds the history of the building and its restoration. At the heart of the Niguliste Museum is, of course, an exceptional collection of medieval art. Historical works commissioned from major art centres are part of our cultural memory. The Niguliste Museum is renowned for its exhibitions and research, both in Estonia and internationally,” said Merike Kurisoo, Director of the Niguliste Museum. The museum’s international profile is evidenced by its activities in recent years: an international research project in connection with the 2023 exhibition Michel Sittow in the North?, and the currently open exhibition on wondrous unicorns, created in collaboration with the Royal Armoury of Sweden and the Swedish National Historical Museums.
“The tower of Niguliste, which opened to the public last year, the modern glass lift and the gallery in the Small Chapel will provide opportunities to further expand the museum’s exhibition activities and better appeal to younger visitors,” Kurisoo added.
At the opening of the Niguliste Museum forty years ago, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir sang under the baton of Tõnu Kaljuste. The choir and its principal conductor, Tõnu Kaljuste, will once again perform on Niguliste’s birthday on 21 November as a symbolic bridge spanning forty years. While the choir sang choral works by Veljo Tormis at the opening ceremony, the birthday evening under the vaults of the church will feature works by Arvo Pärt, which have been performed here many times during the museum’s lifetime.
Over the past forty years, many renowned art historians have worked in Niguliste. Several of them will appear at the birthday programme on Saturday, 23 November, to give short talks on the artistic aspects and building history of Niguliste. The speakers will include Krista Andreson, Kerttu Palginõmm, Anneli Randla, Harry Liivrand, Greta Koppel, Kaia Haamer, Jüri Kuuskemaa, Ravo Reidna, Helena Risthein, Tiit Kiik and Andres Uibo. The audience day will end with an organ recital starting at 4 p.m.
The collection of historic medieval and early modern ecclesiastical art on display in Niguliste is one of the most sophisticated and fascinating collections of ancient religious art in northern Europe. The Niguliste Church is also one of the most thoroughly researched churches of medieval architecture in Estonia, thanks to its long restoration period. The museum in the medieval church houses some of Estonia’s star works of medieval and early modern art, including late medieval altar retables from northern Germany and the Netherlands, and the Dance of Death painted in Bernt Notke’s workshop at the end of the 15th century. Of particular value is the silverware from churches, guilds and the Brotherhood of the Blackheads. The Niguliste Museum is one of the few museums in northern Europe to be housed in a former sacred building, allowing ecclesiastical art to be presented in its historical context.
A church with an extraordinary history
The Niguliste Church was one of Tallinn’s two parish churches in the Middle Ages and one of the city’s most important places of worship. Dedicated to the patron saint of merchants and sailors, St Nicholas, the church was probably built in the mid-13th century. World War II, however, seemed to mark the end of the church: in March 1944, the church was bombed by the Soviet forces, and the resulting fire destroyed almost all of the artefacts still in the church, leaving it in ruins. In the 1950s, restoration and reconstruction of the building as a museum began. The restoration of the church, which was left in ruins 80 years ago, took nearly 40 years.