The State Hermitage

THE STATE HERMITAGE

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:10:17 +0000

Among the world’s most outstanding art museums one of the first places is taken by the State Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. It is the greatest museum of the Russia: its vast and miscellaneous collections take nowadays a block of four buildings; its rooms, if stretched in one line, would measure many miles in total length, while they cover an area of 94 240 square metres. Over 300 rooms are open to the public and contain a rich selection from the Museum’s collections numbering over 2300000 items. The earliest exhibits date from 500000—300000 В. C, the latest — from our days.
All the Museum exhibits are distributed among seven departments which are subdivided into forty permanent exhibitions. A normal feature of these exhibitions is a selection of originals arranged by countries and schools in strictly chronological order to illustrate almost every stage of human culture and every great art epoch from the prehistoric times to the 20th century.
Fabulous treasures are gathered at the Museum. It contains a rare collection of specimens of Scythian culture and art; objects of great aesthetic and historic value found in the burial mounds of the Altai; a most complete representation of exhibits characterizing Russian culture and art. Oriental collections of the Museum ranking among the richest in the world, are representative of culture and art of the peoples of the Near and Far East, among the noteworthiest being those devoted to China, India, Byzantium, Iran; they also include remarkable material illustrative of culture and art of the peoples of the Caucasus and of Central Asia. The Museum numbers among its treasures monuments illustrative of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, as well as those from the Greek settlements on the North coast of the Black Sea.

World famous is the collection of West-European painting covering a span of about seven hundred years — from the 13th to the 20th century, and including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, El Greco, Velazquez, Murillo, outstanding works by Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens, a remarkable group of French eighteenth-century paintings as well as impressionists and post-impressionist paintings. The collection is representative of the art of Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and some other countries. The West-European Department of the Museum includes also a fine collection of European sculpture containing monuments by Michelangelo.
Canova, Falconet, Houdon, Rodin and many other eminent sculptors; an extremely fine collection of prints and drawings, numbering about 600000 items; a collection of arms and armour; one of the world’s most outstanding collections of applied art rich in tapestries, furniture, lace, ivories, porcelain, metalwork, bronzes, silver, jewellery and enamels. An important place among the Museum’s possessions is taken by the numismatic collection, which numbers over 1000000 items and is regarded as one of the largest in the world. This section of the Museum has organized a permanent exhibition of medals and orders, whereas coins are distributed among the museum galleries in addition to the main groups of material. A special exhibition of coins is in the process of arrangement.

The seven Departments of the Museum of which the names are: Russian Culture, Primitive Culture, Culture and Art of the Peoples of the Soviet East, Culture and Art of the Foreign Countries of the East, Culture and Art of the Antique World, West-European Art, Numismatics, together with the Department of Scientific Propaganda of Art (Educational Department), the Restoration Dapartment, and the Library determine the administrative and academic structure of the Museum. Within the last decade the Hermitage has become one of the Country’s most important art institutions with a research staff numbering about 200 historians and art historians carrying out a complicated and varied work in the field of the study of art problems and responsible for the study and keeping of the Museum treasures, their conservation and restoration, as well as scientific popularization of art. This varied work results in a great number of publications of which many are issued by the State Hermitage Publishing House.
Since 1949 a postgraduate school has been organized at the Hermitage, specialists in art working here at their theses.

An important role in the Museum’s research work is played by the annual archaeological expeditions organized by the Museum either independently or together with other Soviet scientific institutions. The most notable among them are: the Karmir-Blur expedition making excavations of the seventh-century В. C. city of Taishebami situated on the Karmir- Blur hill near Erevan; Chersonese and Nymphaeum expeditions working on the sites of the ancient Greek cities in the Crimea; the Siberian, Tadjik, Altai, Pskov and other expeditions. The material found is not only of exceptional value since it always throws fresh light on the problems of the history of art and culture , — it is also one of the sources of enriching the Hermitage collections.
Most helpful in the Museum’s research work is the Hermitage Library which contains about 350000 books, pamphlets, periodicals, and reference material and is one of the largest art libraries in the Russia. It was started in the 18th century and deals with all branches of fine and applied arts. In addition to the Central Library each Department of the Museum has its own library containing special books in accordance with the type of the Department. Of these the library of the Numismatics Department deserves special mention as being one of the finest in the world. The Library of the Hermitage exchanges books with a number of Soviet and foreign Museums. It is open to every student of art.

An exceedingly important section of the Museum is the Restoration Department, which in co-operation with other scientific Departments sees to the preservation of the Museum’s priceless treasures. The diversity of material possessed by the Museum: paintings, sculptures, watercolours, prints and drawings, all kind of metalwork, ceramics, textiles, stone carvings etc. — makes it necessary to organize several restoration shops specialized by materials and types of objects. At the present moment there are seven specialized restoration shops responsible for conservation and restoration of the Museum exhibits. The restoration process crowns a laborious research work and fundamental study of the objects restored. Microscopical and chemical analyses. X-rays, ultra-violet and infra-red rays are applied at large in the process of “work. A number of experiments is made annually in search of new and safe methods of restoration.
No short survey would suffice to represent the various aspects of work in so great a museum as the Hermitage. A special place belongs here to the Museum’s activities in the field of the popularization of the art treasures, answering the great interest shown by the people of the Russia for the artistic legacy of the past. This work is, in fact, carried out by the whole of the museum staff, however the main bulk of it is extended by about hundred officers of the Department of Scientific Propaganda of Art which includes research workers and relief-lecturers.
One of the Department’s principal activities is the arrangement of lecture-tours, consultations, and talks in the Museum rooms. During 1960 about 21 500 lecture-tours were given in the Museum, on some days the number of lectures amounting to one hundred! Apart from the general survey or episodical guide-lectures devoted to a separate museum section a new type of lecture-tours has come into being. These, are series of specialized study-lectures arranged for various parties, the course ranging from 6 to 32 lecture-tours for each party.

Very often parties of factory workers with their families, come to spend their day off at the Hermitage. For a group of 400—500 people a lecture with lantern slides is arranged in the Lecture Theater, the former court theater, after which people are guided through the museum rooms.
Every year hundreds of extra-mural lectures are delivered by the Museum staff. These are courses of evening lectures given in the Hermitage Lecture Theater, lectures in the workers’ clubs, in all kind of institutions of the city, as well as lectures given in other cities of this Country.
The Museum organizes travelling exhibitions consisting of original material or photographic mounts, which are lent to many institutions and workers’ clubs of Saint Petersburg and of other cities too. Loan exhibitions are exchanged also with museums abroad.
A feature of special importance are guide lectures given about 3 500 annually for school children in accordance with their school syllabus. However, those children who take special interest in art can join one of the numerous “circles” arranged for them by the Museum, which is an excellent way to fortify and broaden the knowledge they receive at school.
All this is but a short mention of only some facets of the versatile work carried out by the Museum and achieving each year still larger scope and new forms, following the growing cultural demands of the Soviet people. Each year grows the attendance of the Museum, having reached in 1960 the highest figure of 850 000.

THE MAKING OF THE COLLECTION

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:06:14 +0000

Although visited now by thousands of people the Museum traditionally retains the old name — “The Hermitage” — attached to it in the 1760′s, which means “a hermit’s dwelling”, or “a solitary place”. This name originated in the fact that the Hermitage was founded as a palace museum accessible only to the nearest of the near to the court.
Some art treasures, of which but a small part was incorporated with the later museum collections, were purchased in different countries by Peter 1. These were, e. g., antique statues, marine landscapes, some pieces of Chinese applied art, collection of Siberian gold buckles from the 4th to the 1st centuries В. C.
However, traditionally the date оf the foundation of the Hermitage is considered 1764 when a collection of 225 pictures was acquired by Catherine 11 from the Prussian merchant Gotzkovsky.
A feature characteristic of the eighteenth-century acquisitions was the purchase of large groups of paintings, sometimes of complete galleries, bought en b 1 oc at the sales in West Europe. Such was Count Bruhl’s collection acquired in Dresden in 1769; the gallery of Crozat bought in Paris in 1772; the gallery of Lord Walpole acquired in London in 1779. These were the noteworthiest acquisitions made in the 18th century which, together with numerous purchases of individual pictures, supplied the Museum with most outstanding canvases of European School including those by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck and other eminent artists, and made the Hermitage, already at that time, rank among the finest galleries of Europe. Commissions by the Russian Court from European painters were also a source enriching the Picture Gallery. By 1785 the Museum numbered already 2 658 paintings. Prints and drawings, cameos, coins and medals were represented at the Hermitage too.
The purchase of complete collections as well as of separate works of art continued throughout the 19th century, however not on so large a scale as in the previous period. Among the noteworthiest acquisitions of the 19th century were: the Empress Josephine’s Malmaison Gallery bought in 1814; the English banker Coesvelt collection consisting mainly of Spanish paintings, purchased in Amsterdam the same year; as well as paintings from the Barbarigo Palace in Venice which gave the Museum its best Titians.
As to the purchase of separate works of art, the acquisition in 1866 of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Madonna Litta” from the Duke of Litta collection and of Raphael’s “Virgin and Child” from the Gonestabile family (the “Madonna Gonestabile”) in 1870, deserve special mention.
Excavations started in the South of Russia in the first half of the 19th century provided an opportunity of creating a new section at the Museum, representative of Greek and Roman antiquities; it comprised also the collection of sculpture gathered in the 18th century and housed till the middle of the 19th century in the Tavrichesky Palace.

In 1885 the Hermitage received an important collection of objects of applied art of the 12th — 16th centuries, gathered by Basilevsky, which, together with the Armory transferred from Tsarskoye Selo, notably enriched the Museum with a new type of material.
The first decade of the 20th century was made illustrious by the acquisition from the eminent Russian scientist Semenov-Tienshansky of his magnificent collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings which included 730 canvases. The other most important acquisition was Leonardo da Vinci’s “Madonna and Child” (the “Madonna Benois”) purchased in 1913 from the architect L. Benois family.
The Great October Socialist Revolution created extremely favourable conditions for the further growth of the Museum collections and their systematic study. Since October 1917, due to the care taken by the Soviet Government for the preservation of all the art treasures in Russia, the Museum collections were enriched by a great number of first class works of art. These were: best pictures chosen by the Hermitage authorities from the nationalized private collections such as those formerly belonging to the Jusupovs, the Shuvalovs, the Stroganovs; paintings transferred from the imperial palaces; art treasures exchanged with other museums within the Country. Planned distribution of art treasures among the museums carried out by the State, enabled the Hermitage not only to fill up many gaps and deficiencies by adding to its picture gallery Italian paintings of the 13th — 15th centuries, pictures of the Netherlandish School, as well as of the French School of the 19th and 20th centuries (originally gathered in the Moscow private collections of Shchukin and Morosov), but to form a Museum free from private taste and opinion, and made it possible to arrange the collections systematically.
Nowadays the chief ways of enriching the Hermitage collections are exchanges with the museums of the Russia, purchases made by the State Purchase Commission, and a number of archaeological excavations carried out all over the Country.
All this provided an opportunity of forming new departments in the Museum devoted to the history of culture and art of the Primitive Society, to the history of culture and art of the Soviet East and foreign countries of the East, to the history of Russian culture.
The immense increase of the collections resulted in the necessity of larger exhibition space. That is why the Winter Palace was added to the Hermitage, the name “The State Hermitage Museum” being applied now to the whole great Museum thus constructed.

BUILDINGS AND ROOMS OF THE MUSEUM. PART I

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:02:48 +0000

At the present moment the exhibitions of the Hermitage occupy four buildings, the fifth — t h e Hermitage Theatre — being used now as a Lecture Theatre of the Museum. All the five buildings, though erected at different times and for different purposes, are linked together by roofed passages, thus forming a single unit.
Being adjacent to the Winter Palace the Hermitage buildings, though intended to house the museum collections, served for a long time as an extention of the palace, — court festivities being often held amidst the paintings, — and were decorated with splendour equal to that of the Palace. The most outstanding architects, painters, sculptors, specialists in almost all the branches of applied art took part in their construction, which makes the very buildings and rooms of the Museum a matter of interest too.
The Winter Palace is by the date of its construction the earliest of the buildings occupied now by the Museum. Erected in 1754—1762 to the design of the architect Bart holomew Rastrelli, it still remains one of the noteworthiest architectural monuments of the city.

Nothing remains now of the original walls and inner decorations of Rastrelli’s time, the Palace being completely destroyed by fire in 1837. It was restored in the 1840′s by the leading architects of that period V. Stasov and A. Bryullov, however, taste having changed, the style of the rooms was altered, and nowadays Rastrelli’s hand is recognized in the outer facades and but in some rooms of the Palace.
The Main Stairway is one of the few places in the Palace retaining the eighteenth-century style. The beautiful swing of the marble banisters, infinite variety of the gilded mouldings, mirrors introduced into the walls to make the room more spacious, are the most imposing features of the interior. Monolithic columns of grey granite were added to it in the middle of the 19th century. Being the largest and the most impressive of the 117 stairways of the Palace, this one was originally called the Embassadors’ Stairway” and was used during official receptions. Nowaays it is the Main Entrance Stairway to the Museum.

It was in the 18th century that some rooms of the Palace were set side for the art collections. However, the Palace being not intended for museum purposes, another building adjacent to the Palace and intended ) house the growing collections was erected as early as 1764 by the rchitect Vallin de la Mothe (1729—1800), professor of the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts. The building was called the Hermitge,— a hermit’s dwelling — and was used by Catherine II both as a mseum and a refuge from her court duties. Thus, the Hermitage originatd as a palace museum with the access to it strictly limited.
The interior of the Small Hermitage, as the building was later called, as altered in the middle of the 19th century, and the lofty Pavilion fall (Hermitage, 1st floor, room № 204) as we see it now, with its elaborate mouldlgs and monolithic marble columns supporting a light gallery decorated 1th lace-carved railing, — is the work of the architect A. Stackenchneider (1802—1865). Beautiful crystal-glass chandeliers of Russian ork were added in the 1870′s.
Unfit for the accommodation of paintings, the Pavilion Hall houses ow a collection of Russian and European mosaics.

A notable feature of the Small Hermitage building is a roof garden, nown as the “Hanging Garden”, laid out in the 18th century. It is used on vaults and seems to hang. The layer of earth about seven feet permits to plant in it small trees and bushes. On summer days the visitors of the Museum may have here some rest in listening to symphonion music nowadays specially broadcasted in the garden.
Numerous acquisitions made by the end of the 18th century resulted l addition of a new museum building overlooking the Neva which was construction from 1775 to 1784. Originally designed by Y. Felten 1730—1801), it was altered in the interiors by A. Stackenchneider i the middle of the 19th century, and State Rooms were installed here i place of the halls adapted for the accommodation of the collections. The museum exhibitions were brought back again to this building only after le October Revolution.
The most notable of the whole set of rooms is room 214 (Hermitage), remarible for its decorations, of which the monolithic grey marble columns id those clad with green-and-brown-striped jasper plaques deserve speal mention. They are of Russian work as well as the chandeliers and )me of the wall-paintings.

Soon after the completion of the Old Hermitage, as the Felten building was named in the 19th century, two new edifices were started most simultaneously. The one was the Hermitage Theatre intended i r private use of the court. It was designed by G. Quarenghi (1744) in 1784 and was connected with the Old Hermitage by anarch thrown ver the Winter Canal. The theatre retains the original style both in the facades and interior displaying a magnificent dress circle. Intended for 500 persons, it is nowadays used as a Lecture Theatre of the Museum.
The other building, which overlooked the Winter Canal and was executed also by Quarenghi in 1788, was an exact and unique copy of the famous gallery in the Vatican, known as the Raphael Loggias (Hermitage, 1st floor, room 227). Raphael’s frescoes were copied on canvases by many painters then in Rome, the whole work having taken eight years (1778— 1785). Connected with the Old Hermitage building, the Gallery was regared as a further extension to the Museum, which still remained closed to the general public.
It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the Hermitage has become a public museum. By that time the collections had already been transferred from the old buildings to a new one, called the New Hermitage, erected in 1839—1850 to the design of the Munich architect Leo Klenze (1784—1864), well known as the architect of the Pinakothek at Munich. He, however, stayed in Germany, the work being carried out on the spot by the eminent Russian architects V. Stasov (1769—1848) and N. Yefimov (1799—1851).
The building is approached by a splendid portico supported by ten grey granite monolithic figures executed by A. Terebenev (1812— 1859) which may rank among the most illustrious examples of Russian stone carving of the 19th century. The ground floor of the New Hermitage building, originally intended for the antiquities, was executed in the classical style so as to fit the objects exhibited. Many rooms of the ground floor are remarkable for the beautiful marble flooring, whereas all of them compete for supremacy in display of the exquisite palette of the stucco (artificial marble) covering the walls and serving as a most suitable background for the sculptures.
Among the noteworthy rooms of the 1st floor will be found those containing paintings of Italian seventeenth- and eighteenth-century School and Spanish seventeenth-century School (Hermitage, 237, 238, 239). They were intended to contain paintings, which bespoke the character of the architectural design. However the sumptuous decorations testify strongly to the fact that the Museum continued to be an institution pertaining to the Palace.
Indeed, though opened to the public in 1852, the Museum was still called Imperial Hermitage, its collections being considered property of the Tsar’s family, whereas the admittance was still restricted by several regulations abolished only by the end of the 19th century under strong pressure of Russian democratic circles.

BUILDINGS AND ROOMS OF THE MUSEUM. PART II

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:59:58 +0000

On account of the considerable increase of the museum collections jfter the Revolution, the Winter Palace was added to the Hermitage, the State rooms and living rooms being fitted to the exhibition purposes, svhereas the architectural style and decorations were carefully preserved.
Among the most notable rooms of the Winter Palace is the imposing suite of the State rooms which begins with the Small Throne Room, or Peter Room, so called in the 19th century in memory of Peter 1 (Hermitage, 1st floor, room 194). It was designed b y O. Monferrand (1786—1858) in 1833 and reconstructed by V. Stasov after the fire of 1837. The walls are upholstered with fine Lyon velvet embroidered with silver thread, which was commissioned specially for this room. Raised gilded plaster work and ceiling-paintings also deserve special mention.
The room houses now the throne chair made for Peter I in 1714 by a London silversmith N. Clausen and used after Peter I’s death by all Russian tsars at the receptions in the Winter Palace.
Next to the Small Throne Room is the Emblem Hall (Hermitage, 1st floor, room № 195) which received its name from the plaques fixed at the numerous chandeliers and bearing coats of arms of Russian provinces.
Adjacent to it is the famous “Gallery of 1812″ (Hermitage, room 197) built by the architect C. Rossi (1775—1849) in 1826 to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. The Gallery comprises 332 portraits to the number of the generals engaged in the campaign. The English painter George Dawe (1781 —1829) and two Russian painters A. Polvakov (1801—1835) and V. Golike (d. 1848) fulfilled the work between the years 1819 and 1829. Most of the portraits were painted from life, which makes them especially interesting both from the historic and artistic point of view.

Gallery of the Patriotic War of 1812
In case a general had already been dead by the moment of the construction of the Gallery and there existed no other representation of his to serve as a model, an empty frame upholstered with green silk was left, the name and the rank being inscribed on it. The Gallery of Russian glory, it commemorates the names of fieldmarshal Kutuzov and his companions-in-arms Bagration, Barclay de Tolly, Davydov, Rayevsky, Platov, Kulnev and others. After the October Revolution it was supplemented with four portraits of Russian soldiers, participants in the same campaign, and also painted by Dawe.
Among the noteworthiest rooms of the Winter Palace is Georgiyevsky or the Large Throne Room (Hermitage, 1st floor, room 198) covering an area of 800 square meters. It was decorated by Stasov only with two sorts of material — white Carrara marble and gilded bronze — forming a noble colour scheme which added much to the sublimity of the general effect created by the spacious and faultless proportions of the room. Special notice deserve the ceiling ornaments of cast gilded bronze repeated in the pattern of the floor which is composed of sixteen kinds of rare wood.
The throne, now on show in the Small Throne Room, is replaced by the Map of the Russia. It is skilfully composed of 45 000 pieces of stone, the lowlands, mountains, and neighbouring countries being inlaid with jaspers of different shades; the State frontiers — with rhodonite and jasper; the rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans — with lapis-lazuli; the North Pole is marked with a ruby flag, the drift of the ice-floe which carried Papanin’s expedition — with cut topases; the cities are marked with stars: Moscow and the capitals of the republics — with ruby stars, the other cities — with gilt silver stars bearing a ruby in the centre; the names of the cities are inlaid with cut precious stones: rubies — for Moscow, emeralds — for the capitals of the republics, alexandrite — for Saint Petersburg.

The Map was completed by the Soviet stone carvers in 1937, and was shown on the World Fairs in Paris, 1937, and in New York, 1939.
Another suite of State Rooms is overlooking the Neva. It consists of the Antechamber (1st floor, room 192) and the Large Hall (Hermitage, 191), the former ball-room,—both the rooms used nowadays for the loan and temporary exhibitions regularly held in the Museum,—and the Concert Room (Hermitage, 190), now including the exhibition of Russian silver. This suite is closed up by the Malachite Hall (Hermitage, 189) remarkable for the magnificent malachite of rich green colour, with which the columns and pilasters, mantelpieces and floor-lamps are veneered. The vivid green tone of the malachite is rendered still more striking by the crimson of the furniture and the gold of the raised plaster work — the combination of colours being most characteristic of the aesthetics of the time. The stone, as well as the technique of working it, called Russian mosaic, are typically Russian. About two tons of malachite were used for the decoration of the room, which deserves special mention, the stone being extremely rare.
The room was designed in 1839 by A. Brуullоv, assisted by his pupils A. Gornostayev (1808—1862) and Lvov.
It was in the Malachite Hall that the Provisional Government, which took up residence in the Winter Palace in July 1917, had its sittings. Here on October 25, 1917, the ministers took refuge under the protection of the cadets.
Next to the Malachite Hall is the Small Dining Room where the Provisional Government was arrested by the revolutionary workers, soldiers and sailors during the storming of the Palace in the October Revolution.
Many rooms of the Museum were severely damaged during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 — 1945. It is due to the care of the Soviet Government that the whole architectural complex of the Hermitage has been restored and now, as well as the collections which had been safely preserved, is in the service of the people.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN CULTURE

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:57:17 +0000

The Department of Russian Culture is one of those organized in the Museum after the October Revolution of 1917. It was created in 1941 and takes now 40 rooms of the Winter Palace. Special emphasis deserves the fact that it is the history of Russian culture and not the development of fine arts in Russia that the Hermitage is intended to demonstrate, the Russian School being represented in about 100 museums and art galleries of the country, of which the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg are the noteworthiest.
The contents of the exhibitions of the Russian Section in the Hermitage can be summed up by saying that they comprise archaeological material, memorial objects, paintings, engravings and specimens of applied art brought together to represent Russian culture from the 7th to the 19th century.
The early stage of Russian culture (RUSSIAN CULTURE, 7th—15th CENTURIES. (Hermitage, 1st floor, rooms 143 – 150) is represented by a number of objects from excavations of the ancient settlements of the Slavs, from Kiev in the South, to Ladoga in the North, giving evidence of the high standard of agriculture and handicrafts developed by the Slavs. To these were added some separate works of art, of which special mention deserve a twelve-century fresco representing St. Nicholas and a mosaic ornament of the same date transferred from the former Mikhailo-Zlatoverkhy Monastery in Kiev Hermitage, room 147) as well as Russian icons of the 15th century Hermitage, rooms 149). Unique in its historic value is the “Tmutarakan stone” stating that in 1068 the width of the Kerch Straits was measured to the order of the Tmutarakan Prince Gleb Hermitage, room 148). Attention must be also paid to a number of pendants, breast chains and other pieces of twelve-century Russian jewellery richly represented in the collection (rooms 147—148). In the process of arrangement is an exhibition relating to the history of Russian culture of the 16th and 17th century.

The works shown on the exhibition devoted to the history of RUSSIAN CULTURE AT THE CLOSE OF THE 17th — BEGINNING OF THE 18th CENTURY. Hermitage, 1st floor, rooms 151-156) bring us to the days of the reforms carried out by Peter I, the days of rapid growth of Russian industry and handicrafts, accumulation of knowledge in different branches of science, establishment of trade and cultural ties with many countries of the world; we assist at the foundation and growth of Petersburg, trace the changes in the morals and manners of the Russian society, learn that Russian people took great interest in the arts already in those days, we, finally, see a number of memorial things which belonged to Peter I personally. All these aspects of the Russian early-eighteenth-century life are represented by a great variety of contemporary objects of which many are of great rarity.
Among the most noteworthy exhibits relating to the pre-Peter Russia will be found “The Map of all Siberia” painted on cloth in 1698 by a Siberian geographer S. Remezov; the Holy Gates from the church on Kulikovo Field, an extremely fine work carved in wood by an unknown sixteenth-century artist; printed books and manuscripts of which outstanding is an illustrated “Titulyarnik” (Record of Sovereigns) dating approximately from 1678; early-eighteenth-century enamels and metalwork,— all grouped in the beginning of the “Gallery of Peter I” (Hermitage, 1st floor, rooms 151—153).

Outstanding among the exhibits of the later period are: a bronze bust of Peter I executed by C. Rastrelli in 1723, two years previous to Peter I’s death; a unique collection of lathes designed by the talented Russian mechanic A. Nartov in the first quarter of the 18th century and intended for the workshop of Peter I, who mastered 14 trades; engravings contemporary to the early days of the building of Petersburg; several personal belongings of Peter I including an enormous desk made according to Peter’s height, who was 2 m 4 cm (7 feet).
The collection derived from a memorial museum, created after Peter I’s death by the Academy of Sciences, of which a considerable part was later given over to the Hermitage. In addition to this material a number of rare exhibits were received from several scientific institutions of the country, thus forming together with the objects previously assembled a remarkably fine collection representative of the early-eighteenth-century Russian culture.

RUSSIAN CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE – AND THE SECOND HALF OF THE 18th CENTURY

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:55:10 +0000

Bronze portrait bust of Peter I
Adjoining the Gallery of Peter I are rooms housing the material relating to the history of RUSSIAN CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE-AND THE SECOND HALF OF THE 18th CENTURY (Hermitage, 1st floor, rooms 187—173, 190). Here are paintings, drawings, and water-colours representing outstanding architectural monuments and giving evidence of the high level of the Russian architecture of the period in question; genuine works of art illustrative of Russian portrait and landscape painting; books and manuscripts of great value relating to the complicated social history of the eighteenth-century Russia; a number of objects representing different branches of science, of which the material on the scientific and artistic activitvity of the great Russian scientist M. Lomonosov is the most notable (Hermitage, room 186).
A porcelain cup and a snuff-box executed by D. Vinogradov in 1749—1752,

Porcelain snuff-box made in 1752 by
I. VINOGRADOV (1720 1758).
however small and unnoticeable if compared with the splendid productions of the later times, are of great importance as they rank among the earliest specimens of Russian porcelain, the secret of porcelain-making being discovered by D. Vinogradov independently of China or Europe. Hermitage. Hermitage, room 186. Special mention deserves the material relating to the activity of the Russian outstanding mechanic I. Kulibin.

Egg – shaped clock made in 1765 1769 by
I. P. KULIBIN (1735 -1818).
Testifying to the high standard of his craftsmanship is his famous clock shaped as a goose-egg and composed of about 600 details, including a music-box and moving figures made of silver. Hermitage, room 183. The most exciting however are numerous representations of the specimens of applied art such as stoneware, metalwork, ivories, textiles etc., but this formal enumeration gives no idea of the gaiety of the enamel and glass collection, the surprising workmanship of the Tula craftsmen shown in their steel-work, the elegance of the ivory-carvings or the sumptuous beauty of the silver collection.

Among the silversmiths productions draws attention a superb tomb of Alexander Nevsky, Prince of Novgorod and a prominent military commander of the 13th century, made at the Petersburg mint in 1750 1753 to commemorate the renowned general. Hermitage, room 190). The monument consisting of a pyramid which is a decorative one and serves as a background for the sarcophagus, two groups of arms and armour, and two candlesticks,— all made of silver, — weighs 1.5 tons and apart from enormous dimensions presents an astonishing variety of the manner of execution. Of great interest are bas-reliefs embossed all round the sarcophagus, depicting events from the life of Alexander Nevsky and his famous victories. The three scenes represented on the side of the sarcophagus facing the spectator are: the victory over the Swedes on the Neva in 1240 (whence Alexander Nevsky won his surname); the liberation of Pskov in 1240; the victory over the Teutonic Knights on the ice of the Tchudskoye Lake in 1242. All the bas-reliefs are remarkable examples of skilfully executed group compositions.

RUSSIAN CULTURE OF THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 19th CENTURY

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:51:29 +0000

RUSSIAN CULTURE OF THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 19th CENTURY. Hermitage, rooms 172- 167) is represented by the material of the same kind as the above mentioned. The most notable historic events of the epoch — the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrists’ uprising of 1825 -are illustrated by a number of historical documents as well as by contemporary paintings, prints and drawings, among the noteworthiest being those representing the leaders of the Decembrists’ uprising. A considerable part of the exhibition is devoted to the great achievements of Russian literature of the first quarter of the 19th century connected first of all with the name of the great Russian poet A. S. Pushkin. The outburst of artistic activity in Russia is illustrated by genuine works of O. Kiprens’ky (1782—1836), A. Venetzianov (1780-1847), V. Tropinin (1776— 1857), C. Bryullov (1799—1852), and other outstanding painters, sculptors and engravers of the Russian school.
The exhibitions of the Russian Department are continued in the Stale Rooms of the Winter Palace (rooms 194-197).
Here may be viewed battle paintings, prints and drawings elucidating the activity of Peter 1 and the great Russian generals A. Suvorov (1730—1800) and M. Kutuzov (1745—1813);

I. G. SCHMIDT (1741 – 1829). Portrait of A. V. Suvorov. 1800.
their personal belongings; specimens of arms and uniforms of the Russian army at the end of the 18th and t h e beginning of the 19th centuries; sculptures and objects of applied art relating to Suvorov’s campaigns and to the Patriotic War of 1812 as well as memorial objects of the same period.
The Gallery of 1812 became now part of this exhibition. Besides the portraits of Kutuzov, Bagration, Davydov and other Russian generals painted b y G. Da we and his assistants Golike and Polyakоv, it nouses three equestrian portraits representing Alexander I, and his allies in the 1813—1814 campaign — Friedrich-Wilhelm III, king of Prussia, and Franz I, emperor of Austria — painted by F. Kriiger and P. Kraftin the first half of the 19th century. It includes also a portrait of the Duke of Wellington painted by G.Dawe. After 1917 some additions were made to the Gallery, namely: four portraits of Russian soldiers, participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 painted by G. Dawe and two battle paintings by P. Hess .
The Department of Russian Culture comprises also the Large Throne Room (room 198) in which the inlaid map of the Russia is now on show. Skilfully composed of 45 000 pieces of stone such as rubies, emeralds, lapis-lazuli, jasper of different colours, it testifies to the fact that the art of Soviet inosaicists follows the ancient traditions of Russian stone carving. Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century vases, floor-lamps, and tables may be met with in almost every room of the Museum, and form a collection fully representative of the very best in the art of Russian lapidaries. Especially noteworthy from this point of view are rooms: 128, ground floor of the New Hermitage Building, housing an enormous monolithic jasper vase made in the 19th century; Hermitage, rooms 237, 238, 239, 245, 1st floor of the New Hermitage Building, containing beautiful vases, tables and floor-lamps of Russian 19th-century work: the Large Throne Room and the Malachite Hall of the Winter Palace. Hermitage, room 189, 1st floor).

Monolithic jasper vase made in the Kolyvan workshop (the Altai) to the design
of the architect MELNIKOV in 1843. The block of stone of which the vase was carved
weighed 19 Ions. Size of the vase: 5 to 3.25 metres: height : 2.5 metres.
The collections of the Russian Department constantly increase due to the exchanges with other museums and scientific institutions of the Country, purchases, and archaeological excavations. In the nearest future further extension of the exhibitions bringing them up to the close of the 19th century must take place.

THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HISTORY OF PRIMITIVE CULTURE

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:48:35 +0000

Hermitage, ground floor, rooms 11-33 also belongs to those organized in the Museum after 317. It contains an almost limitless assortment of objects illustrative of jlture and art relating to the period of the primitive communal system n the territory of the USSR, the collections being formed of archaeoloical finds gathered by several generations of Russian archaeologists.
The earliest exhibits representative of the Old Stone Age (room 1) are stone implements dating from 500000—300000 В. C, found i Armenia on the site of an ancient settlement Satani-Dar in 1947— 349. Artistic conceptions of the people living some 30000—40000 years jo are exemplified by sculptural representations of female figurines and irds, and a bone plaque with a mammoth engraved in outline.
The first steps made by the primitive man in the realm of Art can traced again in the section devoted to the Neolithic period; among the another worthiest here are designs made on stones : the 2nd millennium В. C. found on the bank of the Onega lake, and ilptural representations of animals, of which the most impressive is the ;ad of an elk carved in horn about the same date, found near Sverdlovsk.

Of great historic value is the complex of objects dating from the end the 3rd — beginning of the 2nd millennium В. C. excavated in the Maikop trial mound (North Caucasus). Stone and bronze implements were found ire side by side, which gave evidence to the fact that the burial belong- 1 to the transitional period from the Stone Age to the Age of Bronze, here as the presence of gold vessels and ornaments testified to the comencement of the process of differentiation of the primitive society om 14).
Bronze axes engraved with beasts and designs, and various ornaments Dm the Koban burials (1st millennium В. C.) can be regarded as the ost outstanding representatives of an extraordinary rich collection characterizing the culture of the Caucasian tribes in the Age of Bronze. Hermitage, room 14).

Gold comb crested with figures of Scythians engaged in battle.
Late 5th century В. C. Found in Solokha barrow in the Ukraine.
Of world renown is the Sсуthian collection of the Hermitage. Seven rooms. (Hermitage, 15 — 21) of the Department of Primitive Culture are devoted to various items of greatest historic and artistic value relating to the culture and art of the tribes, named Scythians, which dwelled in the steppes to the North of the Caucasian mountains and of the Black Sea in the 7th—3rd centuries В. C. Of exceptional interest are objects illustrative of the early phase of Scythian art, dating from the early 6th century В. C, which come from the excavations of the burial mounds in the Kuban district. . Hermitage, room 15. Some of them give evidence of the cultural ties — already at that early period —of the Scythians with the peoples of Oriental countries, the others — exhibit a specifically local style. To the latter group belong two gold shield ornaments shaped as a leaping stag and a panther. Both the figures are perfect examples of the so-called Scythian “animal style”, of which the typical feature is a conventionalized treatment of the animal figure combined with the exceptionally keen observation of nature.

Silver vase. 4th century В. C. Found in Chertomlyk barrow near Nicopol
The contents of the fabulously rich Scythian barrows in the Ukraine, known as Solokha and Chertomlyk, illustrate with great completeness different aspects of Scythian culture and art in the 5th and 4th centuries В. C, and give evidence of the close cultural ties between the Scythians and the Greeks in that period. It also presents a unique group of ornaments of exceedingly fine workmanship. A magnificent example of this type of work is a golden comb from the Solokha barrow, crested with figures of Scythians engaged in battle, perfectly modelled in the round. Special mention deserves also the famous silver vase, which comes from the Chertomlyk barrow, near Nicopol, adorned with a frieze depicting in high relief the capture and breaking in of the wild horses of the steppes. Hermitage, room 16).

Cut woollen rug. 5th – 4th centuries В. C. Found in the
1950s in the Pazyryk burial mound in the Altai. Detail.
The Department of Primitive Culture numbers among its gems a unique collection of objects from the Pazyryk burial mounds in the Altai mountains found in excavations carried out in the course of the last thirty years. The material from the Pazyryk barrow V opened in 1949 ( Hermitage, rooms 25, 26) proved to be of most outstanding scientific and artistic interest. The construction of the Altai burial mounds suggested the formation of eternal freezing inside the graves situated in the highland regions, which resulted in a very good state of preservation of objects dating from the 5th—4th centuries В. C. which otherwise would have not survived: wood, textiles, felt etc.
Such is the log-house which formed the funeral chamber; the log-coffin in which the mummyfied body of the chief of a tribe was found; the cut woollen rug, the earliest among those recorded nowadays; the large felt carpet, of some 26 square metres, representing seated goddesses and equestrians; t h e wooden chariot intended for funeral purposes, made without a single nail; horse masks, harness, saddle blankets, of which one was made of Chinese silk embroidered with chain-stich: the earliest example of such fabric known nowadays, etc. This Department posseses also cultural memorials of Siberian origin , of which the most remarkable are gold neck-rings, bracelets and buckles modelled in relief, dating from the 4th—2nd centuries В. C. They belong to the collection assembled by Peter I. These objects were found in the burial mounds of the steppes in the Altai region, between the rivers Ob and Irtysh. They are executed in Scytho-Siberian style and mostly coincide in date with the finds from the Pazyryk barrows as well as with those from the Scythian burial mounds in the Ukraine.

ART OF THE PEOPLES OF THE EAST

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:42:46 +0000

Oriental Department of the Hermitage comprises nowadays one of the world’s greatest collections representing culture and art of the peoples of the East. It was created in 1920, being formed of some 7 000 separate items distributed among different sections of the Museum, and has not ceased to grow since that time, numbering nowadays 136 000 exhibits. Of outstanding importance are its collections of Byzantine art and Sassanian silver, the Greco-Bactrian collection, ancient Chinese textiles, cultural memorials from Urartu, Dagestan bronzes and reliefs, Coptic textiles. The collection is divided into two major sections devoted to the history of culture and art of the peoples of t h e Soviet East and Foreign Countries of the East. The first starts with the exhibition relating to the HISTORY OF CULTURE AND ART OF THE PEOPLES OF CENTRAL ASIA FROM THE 3rd millennium В. C. TO THE 19th century A. D. Hermitage, ground floor, Hermitage, rooms 34- 40, 46—54).

During this long period of time many state formations followed one another on the territory of Central Asia. Part of Achemenian Persia in the 6th—4th centuries В. C, it falls under the rule of Alexander the Great in the 4th century В. C; the 3d century В. C. marks the rise of Greco-Bactrian kingdom; in the 1st — 4th centuries A. D. the peoples of Central Asia consolidate in a mighty Kushan Empire; the Kushan Empire having collapsed in the 4th century. Central Asia was invaded by warlike nomadic tribes, and in the 6th century it fell under the rule of the nomad Turks; in the 8th century Central Asia is conquered by the Arabs, in the 13th — it becomes part of the Golden Hord — the State of the Mongols, which in its turn was conquered by Timur (Tamerlane) in the second half of the 14th century; the period covering the 18th and early 19th centuries witnesses the formation of Bokhara, Kokand and Chiva Khanates.
It is therefore not surprising that art and culture of the peoples inhabiting Central Asia in those days exhibit a most peculiar interlacement of local and foreign traditions which can be traced in a great number of architectural fragments; magnificent wall-paintings; rare coins; bronze- and silverware; pottery; a magnificent range of tiles astonishing by their intense colours, almost infinite fantasy of ornament, and variety in the methods of execution; jewellery; armour and weapons; a fine set of Turkmen and Uzbek carpets; Kirghiz and Kazakh embroideries and many other objects of which some comfort the scientists with historical information, whereas the others give pleasure to the eye by the peculiarity of their outlines or the blaze of colours which seem to have absorbed the very Sun of the South.
Among the most remarkable possessions of this section especially should be singled out: the frieze from a building in Airtam, near Termez (1st century В. C.) presented to the Hermitage by the Government of the Uzbek S. S. R. . Hermitage, room 34;

Fragment from a wall painting from the “Red hall” of a palace
in the town of Varakhsha (Uzbek S. S. R.). 7th — 8th centuries A. D.
specimens of sculpture from Khoresm (3rd — 4th century A. D.) (room 35); a group of materials found in excavations in Pyandjikent, Tadjik S.S.R., including a sculptural frieze of clay representing fantastic sea-creatures (room 35) and fragments from wall paintings of the 7th — 8th century A. D.. Hermitage, room 37). Noteworthy are finds from the castle on the mountain Mug in Tadjikistan, of which a fragment from a shield with the representation of a warrior on horseback should be specially mentioned (early 8th century) . Hermitage, room 36. Great interest present fragments from the mural paintings (7th — 8th centuries) in the so-called “Red hall” of the Bokhara rulers’ palace, found in Varakhsha, Uzbek S.S.R. (room 36). Notable is the collection of Central Asian ceramics of which specimens may be found almost throughout t h e whole exhibition; those manufactured in Afrasiyab and Muntchag-Tepe (10th — 12th centuries) are of especially high workmanship (rooms 38, 39). Among the bronzes attracts attention an enormous cauldron from a mosque in the city of Turkestan, Kazakh S.S.R., made to the order of Timur in 4399 (room 48 ).
Some rooms of the Oriental Department are set aside for the CAUCASIAN SECTION, ( Hermitage, ground floor, rooms 55 — 60), which comprises archaeological material, pottery, bronzes, textiles, jewellery, etc., dating from the Bronze Age to the 9th century A. D. and illustrating both the national traditions and the close cultural ties of the peoples of the Caucasus with Iran, and Roman Empire, and some other countries. Most interesting part of the collection is that comprising the objects from excavations on the territory of the ancient State of Urarty (Armenia) of which those found on the site of Karmir-Blur stronghold near Erevan and dating from the 7th — 6 th centuries В. C. are of great historic interest.

The Department of the History of Culture and Art of foreign Oriental countries

Сustodian of the museum — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:39:23 +0000

The Department of the History of Culture and Art of foreign Oriental countries starts with the exhibition devoted to EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES which covers the period from the 4th millennium В. C. to the 4th century A. D. (ground floor, rooms 80 — 91). It is not representative of monumental sculpture though there are some good examples of it, the greater part of the collection being composed of objects used for funerary purposes and exhibiting the skill shown by Egyptian craftsmen in minor arts. Of outstanding interest is the collection of papyri, of which the one named “The Tale of a Shipwrecked” (20th century В. C.) is of world renown. Hermitage, room № 81). Among the most notable exhibits special mention deserve the black granite statue of Amenemhat III (19th century В. C, Middle Kingdom); the figure of the goddess Sekhmet, also in black granite (15th century В. C, New Kingdom); a wooden statuette of a man (15th century В С ) two granite sarcophagi of queen Nakht-Bastot-ru and her son general Ahmose (6th century В. C ) ; a bronze statuette of Takharka, the’last ruler of the Ethiopian dynasty in Egypt (7th century В. C ) ; and some Fajum portraits. The collection is exceptionally rich in textiles of the Coptic Egypt (4th — 5th centuries A. D.). Hermitage, room 90).

Head of a woman. Palmyra. Late 2nd century A. D.
Among the rooms devoted to the Oriental antiquities some are set aside for the BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN SECTION ( 4 th – 1 st millennia В. C.) as well as for the collection of objects from PALMYRA ( 2 n d — 3rd centuries A. D.). The latter — although small — may rank among the best collections in the world (ground floor, rooms 92-96).
Unrivalled is the BYZANTINE COLLECTION of the Hermitage. Though taking but three rooms (2nd floor, rooms 381, 38la, 382) it presents not only a widely representative series of all the categories of Byzantine artistic production but enables the visitor to trace the main phases of Byzantine art from the 4th to the 15th century A. D. Especially noteworthy is the collection of silver, the richest in the world, revealing the noble simplicity of Byzantine silversmiths’ work. It presents a considerable variety of objects the most outstanding being a group of plates from the treasures discovered in the Ural district and in the Ukraine. Almost all of them are of equally high craftsmanship, perhaps the most often quoted being that representing in relief a shepherd pensively seated beside his dog and browsing goats (6th century) and another one attributed to the 7th century A. D., containing four figures and two horses in a row derived from the story of Atalanta and Meleager. Both the plates exemplify but do not exhaust the noteworthy objects of this group.

Icon of St. Gregory. Byzantium. 12th century
Of no less interest is the magnificent collection of Byzantine ivories of which a group of consular diptychs is the noteworthiest. One of them, dating from about 500 A. D., representing the circus scenes, is especially remarkable both for keenness of observation and perfection of execution. Byzantine icons of the 11th — 12th centuries, just following the iconoclast movement, are of great rarity. The Hermitage can show a fine series of this type of work, the most noteworthy being, the twelfth-century icon of St. Gregory executed obviously by an artist from Constantinople and exhibiting a strong influence of mural paintings and mosaics, and the icon of Christ Pantocrator dated 1363.