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  Festivities and Celebrations in Western European
Engravings of the 16th - 18th Centuries from the Collection of the State
Hermitage The exhibition (Rooms 255, 256, 257) presents engravings which captured moments of dynastic festivities and gala ceremonies in Western Europe in the 16th - 18th centuries. Coronations and the funerals of sovereigns, their festive entry into cities, the marriages of princes and princesses, and the birth of heirs to the throne were all cause for celebrations that were supposed to create an aura around the persona of the ruler. Contemporaries saw in the brilliance of royal celebrations the flowering and power of the state. Therefore the organization of festivities that lasted for many days and involved many people was a matter of state importance and the object of special concern of the monarch himself. The celebrations required huge sums of money and effort. A multitude of masters were drawn from different artistic callings: architects, painters, musicians, dancers, singers, and also engineers, specialists in pyrotechnics, horsemen, chefs, pastry-makers, tailors - all brought their talent to bear on the festivities. From the middle of the 16th century engravings bore witness to the magnificence of the festivities. They portray the main episodes of the events. Over time they became the major source for our understanding of the former glory of festivities. This is the first time that the Hermitage has organized such a major exhibition of engravings in this genre, which the museum collections represent so comprehensively. This chronologically organized exhibition embraces the period from the beginning of the 16th century to the French Revolution and it offers the visitor about one hundred first-quality prints of German, Italian, Dutch, and French engravers. Among the masters represented here are some very well known names: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Jacques Callot, Stefano della Bella, Jean Lepotre, Giuseppe Vasi, Charles-Nicolas Cochin-fils, Jean-Michel Moreau… The jewels of the show, without a doubt, are the Hermitage prints of two Dutch engravings from the 16th century: "The Coronation of Charles V" by Nikolaus Hogenberg and ‘The Funeral Procession in Brussels on the Occasion of the Death of Emperor Charles V', created on the basis of a drawing by Hieronymus Cock; these works are distinguished by amazingly fine and beautifully colored gouache to which gold and silver have been added. Special attention should also be given to such rare prints as the proofs of engravings by Francois Chabot made as illustrations to a publication devoted to Louis XIV's famous carousel. The exhibition provides a thorough presentation of artistic creation that instantly disappeared but which inseparably joined high art, churchly and secular traditions and major events in history. |
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