Hermitage Readings Dedicated to the Memory of Academician Boris Piotrovsky (1908-1990)

On 15 February 2005 the traditional scholarly readings dedicated to the memory of Academician Boris B. Piotrovsky (1908-1990) took place in the Hermitage Theatre.

Traditionally the readings are a unique form of annual report by staff working in the research departments of the State Hermitage. The papers they present are dedicated to investigations of various issues in the history and art of East and West from neolithic times until the 20th century.

One noteworthy event at the conference was the presentation of a reconstruction of ceremonial dress worn by the "queen" from the Arzhan-2 barrow, an undisturbed “royal" burial site dating back to the Scythian period in Tuva. The reconstruction of the ceremonial dress of the “queen” of the Arzhan-2 barrow was performed in the Laboratory of Expert Restoration of Works of Applied Art within the State Hermitage’s Department of Expert Restoration and Conservation. This brought to a close a large complex of work that included the reconstruction of male and female ceremonial dress. The “king’s” costume was presented in the exhibition entitled Arzhan.The Source in the Valley of the Kings. Archeological Discoveries in Tuva. Both sets of ceremonial attire can be seen in the Large Dining Room (Arab Hall) of the Winter Palace.

Reconstruction of the female attire was carried out on the basis of documentary materials from excavations. Copies of the numerous decorations were prepared using complex technologies. The restorers copied more than 3,400 beads and imitations of amber and turquoise, gold beads and coils. The artists and restorers followed the originals to the maximum extent when preparing and assembling the more than 6,000 separate elements and parts of the female costume.

Another important theme of the scholarly conference was the discovery of tattoos on ancient mummies which are kept in the Department of Archeology of Eastern Europe and Siberia. Three of the mummies come from the Altai, more specifically from the Pazyryk barrows, which date from the 5th-3rd centuries B.C. One further mummy was found in Khakasia, in a burial chamber dating from the very start of the Common Era. The tattooed pictures were revealed under infrared rays in the State Hermitage’s Laboratory for Expert Scientific and Technical Evaluation. The application of this method may lead to the discovery of a series of pictures on other mummies originating, especially, in the territory of Siberia and Central Asia and preserved in other places than the Hermitage.

These materials were presented by senior researcher Lyudmila L. Barkova and researcher Svetlana V. Pankova (Department of Archeology of Eastern Europe and Siberia, State Hermitage).

The reports prepared for the Readings have been published by the State Hermitage in a special volume.

Portrait of Boris B. Piotrovsky

Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky at the conference at the Hermitage Theatre

Proceedings of the Conference