The exhibition in the Nicholas Hall offers a distinctive view of the history of European civilization, telling about it through the lens of the traditions and rules, attributes, famous participants, causes and occasions of duels of honour from Classical Antiquity to the mid-20th century.
Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, addressed those attending: “The exhibition is universal, encyclopaedic and very much in the Hermitage spirit. Many museums are participating in it, something that demonstrates not only our solidarity, but also the wealth of Russia’s museum collections. Exhibitions like this really need to be put on today. The duel is a paradigm, an algorithm that can be used to describe world history and the role of the personality within it. Hwever, the duel is also a symbol of a confrontation, when individual people take upon themselves the burden and risk of the showdown, so as to put an end to the deaths of others. I hope that people will also consider those meanings.”
“For more than a decade now the Rosseti Group had been supporting outstanding Hermitage projects – from exhibitions devoted to great art collectors to large-scale anniversary initiatives,” Andrei Yevgenyevich Murov, First Deputy Director General of Rosseti, stated. “I am certain that the new exhibition will become an event that inspires and enthrals all those who appreciate courage and daring.”
Also participating in the opening ceremony were Sergei Mikhailovich Nekrasov, President of the All-Russian Pushkin Museum, Olga Alexandrovna Korneva, Director of the All-Russian Pushkin Museum, Valery Mikhailovich Krylov, Director of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps, Georgy Vadimovich Vilinbakhov and Svetlana Borisovna Adaksina, Deputy General Directors of the State Hermitage, Dmitry Vladimirovich Liubin, head of the “Arsenal” Department, Victor Mikhailovich Faibisovich, leading researcher and scholarly consultant to the exhibition, and Nadezhda Rostislavovna Biskup, researcher in the “Arsenal” Department and curator of the exhibition.
The exhibition has been organized by the State Hermitage with the participation of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineer and Signal Corps of the Ministry of Defence of the RF, the Margarita Rudomino All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature, the All-Russian Pushkin Museum, the Moscow Kremlin State Historical and Cultural Museum-Preserve, the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve, the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House), the State Library of Russia, the National Library of Russia and the Peter the Great Central Naval Museum.
The exhibition “To your places! Single Combat and Duels from Achilles to Serge Lifar” can be visited by holders of entrance tickets to the Main Museum Complex until 2 November 2025.
The General Sponsor of the exhibition is Rosseti
The Information Partner of the exhibition is The Art Newspaper Russia.
