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events of the epoch — the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrists’ uprising of 1825 -are illustrated by a number of historical documents as well as by contemporary paintings, prints and drawings, among the noteworthiest being those representing the leaders of the Decembrists’ uprising.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.