The State Hermitage Museum: Hermitage News

Magazines of the State Hermitage Student Club

In December, 2004 the Hermitage Student Club section on "Man - Art - Time" published a new magazine devoted to the theme of "People who shaped their times."

The students examined the prophet Mohammed and examined issues relating to his teachings and to the idea of Jihad - the rules of warfare and how prisoners of war are treated.
The next historical figure who attracted the attention of section members was Queen Victoria, the symbol of the British Empire. Her reign was one of the most important periods in the socio-economic development of Great Britain.

One of the participants, Svetlana Guseva, became interested in heroes of the Far East. Her articles are devoted to the greatest master of swordsmanship in Japan, Miyamoto Musasi, who was the author of the Book of Five Rings on the art of fencing, and the legendary Japanese hero Minamoto Yositsune.

Part of the magazine is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, a man who called for nonviolence and humility, and who tried to establish these principles as inviolable laws.

Several articles by students tell about the Anne, the Queen of France and wife of King Henri I - who was the daughter of Kievan Prince Yaroslav the Wise. After traveling throughout Europe for a year and a half, she officially converted to Catholicism, but nonetheless did not forget the faith in which she had been brought up.
The final, seventh section of the magazine is devoted to the Orient.

This issue of the magazine is not the first. In the course of 2002-2003, members of "Man - Art - Time" prepared two other issues. The first issue of the magazine was entitled The Dark Ages and dealt with the Middle Ages. The various sections of the magazine described for the reader a medieval city with its buildings, guilds and craft production, Gothic cathedral with typical interiors, monastic orders, the history of the Masons and the music of troubadours. Some articles presented the history of weapons and knightly armor, the history of coats of arms, flags and banners. The last article described fashion in the Middle Ages.

Antiquity was the theme of the second issue of the magazine. "Wrath, o Goddess, sing the praises of Achilles, son of Peleus…" - such was the name of this issue, which was divided into several parts. The first part featured articles on the history of the Trojan War: "Was there truly a Trojan War?", "The Trojan War - a war on land or on sea?", "Homer - eyewitness or historian?", "How many authors wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey?" The students wrote about Heinrich Schliemann and his archeological digs. They researched the etymology of the word "Troy" and created a verbal portrait of the "Trojan Horse." The heroes of the Iliad are presented in the magazine as they appear in Hermitage art works. The woman responsible for the Trojan War - Fair Helen - and her abductor Paris receive special attention in the second part. In the final section there is material of a general, informational nature about antique vases, statuettes from the Northern Black Sea littoral, and Greek and Roman sculpture.

The Hermitage Student Club exists for six years. Previous magazines were created in manuscript form by various sections of the club. For example, over the course of three years students in the section "Artist and Poet" collected all their work from museum classes or work which reflected their student life in general. This material included their review articles on exhibitions, essays on the history of art, and travel notes.

In contrast to these past efforts, the magazine which the section "Man - Art - Time" prepared is the first publication of its kind produced by students. The editor-in-chief is section leader, I.P. Zorina, who is a senior member of the Hermitage research staff. The literary and technical editor is a student - Tatyana Alekseeva. They also are responsible for the design of the magazine.

Magazine of the State Hermitage Student Club