The Art of 18th and 19th Century Tula Arms. The State Hermitage Collection.

On 8 April 2005 an exhibition of more than 100 examples of Tula arms production opened in the Menshikov Palace. The displayed items come from the Arsenal collection within the State Hermitage, which is considered one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The Hermitage is presenting its collection of Tula arms on this grand scale for the first time. The exhibition enables visitors to appreciate the specific artistic features of Russian arms and to become acquainted with the history of their creation

The oldest display item in the exhibition is a large cast-iron cannon dating from 1694 and bearing the following inscription: "In the year 7202 (1694), in December, this cannon was made by resident of Tula, state blacksmith Mikhail Afanasiev."

The Great Northern War served as the stimulus to the development of arms production. Peter the Great’s military reforms were designed to create several new centers of arms manufacture. Tula became one of the most important.

The main part of the exhibition displays hunting and parade arms from the 18th century. The hunting arms of such outstanding masters as Ilya Salishchev, Alexei Leontiev and Ivan Polin deserve special attention.

There are interesting "sets" of hunting equipment consisting of several objects made in the same style, for example, two displays each consisting of a flintstock firearm and two pistols. One of these was ordered by the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna in 1751 for her favorite Count Alexei Razumovsky. The second belonged to Empress Catherine the Great and was made by the outstanding master Ivan Lyalin circa 1790.

The exhibition includes a large group of toy and miniature arms for children that were made by the Tula arms manufacturers. Many of them were ordered by Empress Catherine the Great for her grandchildren, the Grand Princes Alexander, Constantine and Nicholas.

The exhibition culminates in 19th century works by the Tula arms producers made in the Historicist style. Here we see examples of swords, firearms and weapons used to deal blows which reproduce the master works of Moscow’s 17th century Armoury.

The State Hermitage Publishing House has issued a scholarly illustrated catalogue to the exhibition. Yuri Aleksandrovich Miller, the director of the Arsenal and doctor of history, is the author of the catalogue and also the curator of this exhibition.

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Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage, and
Yuri Miller, Curator of the exhibition,
at the opening

At the exhibition

The exhibition catalogue