Art and Man

Section Leader - Irina Pavlovna Zorina, Senior Researcher, State Hermitage.

The first objective of the section is to acquaint participants with our artistic heritage from antiquity to the present day, but its main goal is to develop participants' creative and spiritual horizons. Our section works to its own agenda based on understanding the foundations of the art of Greece and Rome, Byzantium, Western Europe, and Russia. The ways of studying artistic masterpieces put forward by the leader are very diverse, but the process is taken to its culmination by the personal creativity of each student. There are specially prepared programs, lectures, excursions, literary works, etc. As a result of these activities the participants become genuine members of a student club. Whether they become 'captivated' by the Hermitage or remain the same as they arrived depends on personal desire and the efforts of each participant in the section.

Following several years of work we can say that we have had some success in solving this most difficult task. In our group there are students who have taken part in the section since the time it was set up and they themselves now show the Hermitage to novices at the first session. Our program is structured in the following manner: on the one hand we study the museum, its permanent collections and temporary exhibitions, and at the same time we move chronologically along the path of development of art history.

We began with work to familiarize everyone with the art of Ancient Greece. Students prepare ahead for studies that take the form of a conversation. This way we arouse a lively engagement and bring out the creative spiritual force. The students themselves choose a subject, for example 'The poetry of Homer through the ages.' What results is a thematic excursion that analyzes ancient monuments and acquaints the student with more recent paintings and sculptures based on the subjects in Homer's works.

We also have looked at the Middle Ages in Europe and at the Italian and Northern Renaissance. There were many interesting conversations, reports, and activities at exhibitions. A magazine called 'The Dark Ages' was published.. Scripts for video films have also been developed.

An entire year of the work of our section was devoted to the theme of the 'Dialogue of Cultures: West and East'. Lectures were given on China and Japan.

One might say that the core of our section is a 'mini-club' which brings together different people who have in common a passionate interest in art. It is entirely natural that friendly relations develop among them, that participants in the section go to theater, cinema and concerts together, and that their gatherings are accompanied by many jokes and surprises. Our little group has had its own 'ordinary miracle'. It will be fine if it can continue a great deal longer.

At a lecture course

Looking over illustrations