Birthday of Maecenas

On 13 April 2008 in the Large Italian Skylight Hall of the New Hermitage the traditional celebration was held in honour of Gaius Cilnius Maecenas’ birthday, organized by the State Hermitage Museum and the editing board of magazine about social responsibility Novy Metsenat (The New Maecenas).

Representatives of the business elite, the Administration of St. Petersburg, directors of charitable organizations, famous cultural figures and journalists gathered by the famous painting by one of Venice’s leading artists, Giovanni Batista Tiepolo Maecenas Presenting the Liberal Arts to Emperor Augustus.

The ceremony was opened with a welcoming speech by the director of the State Hermitage Museum, Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky. Then Evgeny Yanovich Satanovsky presented a line of jewellery dating from the 2nd to the 9th centuries which are being offered to the museum as a gift. Heineken Breweries LLC gave the State Hermitage Museum a donation for the development of the programme The Past at Our Fingertips for blind and visually impaired children. A special edition of the Novy Metsenat magazine will be dedicated to this project, attracting the attention of sponsors.

JT International continued the ceremony, its representative talked about the project for support new, permanent exhibition ‘Japanese Art and Culture’ at the State Hermitage Museum, which will open during the Hermitage Days in December 2008.

The famous patron, Prince George Yurievsky and his wife Katharina place special attention on talented artists. On this day, the St. Petersburg patrons, Valentina and Alexander Gurevich introduced guests to the artist Tuman Zhumabaev. The artist’s painting has been included in the collection of the leading charitable society in Russia, Nevsky Angel, which was founded in Leningrad 20 years ago.

As part of the ongoing tradition between the Rare Book from St. Petersburg Publishing House and the State Hermitage Museum the first examples of all books produced by Petr Suspitsyn are included in the museum’s collection. This time the collection has been increased with the publications Troyanskaya Voina (The Trojan War), Dekalog (The Ten Commandments).

Books from the Rare Book from St. Petersburg Publishing House, gifts by E. Satanovsky and rython Alp, a gift to the State Hermitage Museum by the famous artist and goldsmith Asya Eutykh, whose exhibition was held in the museum during 2007, were all presented on this notable day in the Large Italian Skylight Hall.

A baroque music ensemble, Soloists of Catherine the Great, helped to ‘flick through’ the celebratory pages of the magazine.

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Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the State Hermitage, at the meeting

Evgeny Satanovsky, Arkady Sosnov, editor-in-chief of the magazine Protector of the Arts and Sciences MECENAT, and Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the State Hermitage Museum

Giovanni Batista Tiepolo Maecenas Presenting the Liberal Arts to Emperor Augustus