“First among Equals. 250 Years of the Hermitage” Round Table
On 8 December 2014, as part of the 3rd International Cultural Forum, a round table discussion “First among Equals. 250 Years of the Hermitage” was held in the Council Hall of the State Hermitage. Its aim was to generalize from the experience of interaction between the Hermitage and other museums of Russia and discussion of the prospects forthe development of collaboration in various spheres of museum activity. Particular attention was paid to an analysis of the work of the Hermitage School of Restoration in the Urals, the existing Hermitage centres in Kazan and Vyborg and also new representations being created in the regions of Russia.
Opening of the New Laboratory for the Restoration of Glass, Ceramics and Porcelain at the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre
On 8 December 2014, the formal opening took place at the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre of a new Laboratory for the Restoration of Glass, Ceramics and Porcelain. This event was made possible by funding received as a grant from the Coca-Cola charitable foundation to mark the 250th anniversary of the legendary museum and the 20th anniversary of its partnership with Coca-Cola.
Opening of the Exhibition “Her Imperial Majesty’s Hermitage”
On 8 December 2014 the exhibition “Her Imperial Majesty’s Hermitage” opened in the Nicholas Hall of the Winter Palace. The display was based on the description of the Imperial Hermitage made in Johann Gottlieb Georgi’s 1794 guidebook to St Petersburg. Within the state room the exhibition presented the structure of the Hermitage and showed the main works that characterized the display in Catherine’s time. The exhibition included the following sections: the picture gallery of Catherine the Great, the cabinet of drawings, the cabinet of engravings, the Empress’s library, the collection of naturalia, the collection of rarities and items from the East, art of Catherine II’s time. The exhibition continued until 10 May 2015.
President Putin in the State Hermitage
On 8 December 2014, in the St George Hall of the Winter Palace, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin held a session of the Council on Science and Education. In the evening, the Field Marshals’ Hall of the Winter Palace was the setting for a gala reception to mark the museum’s 250th anniversary in which Hermitage staff were joined by members of the St Petersburg public, Russian and foreign guests.
A Gift from President Putin to the State Hermitage
On 8 December 2014, in the course of his visit to the State Hermitage, Vladimir Putin presented to the museum a gift of two pieces created by the craftsmen of the House of Fabergé: a mantel clock made for the 25th wedding anniversary of Emperor Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna and the Rothschild Egg Clock. which owes its name to being commissioned by Baron Rothschild in 1902.
A Formal Ceremony Devoted to St George’s Day
On 9 December 2014, the St George Hall of the Winter Palace was the setting for the traditional ceremony to mark Orthodox St George’s Day and also the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage. The museum staff, guests and participants in the ceremony were congratulated by Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St Petersburg, and Vice-Governor Vladimir Kirillov.
A Gift from Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St Petersburg
On 9 December 2014, at a formal ceremony in the St George Hall of the Winter Palace to mark the Hermitage’s jubilee, an 1830s vase depicting the inauguration of the Alexander Column on Palace Square was presented from Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of St Petersburg.
Presentation of the Great Church of the Winter Palace after Restoration and Repairs
On 9 December 2014 the Hermitage presented the Great Church of the Winter Palace that had been repaired for the museum’s 250th anniversary. The total floor area of the restored rooms is 525 square metres. For many years the church was the domestic place of worship of the imperial family. From 1917 the church has been used as museum premises. It houses a permanent display of Russian ecclesiastical art.
Opening of the Refurbished Permanent Display “Russian Culture of the Second Half of the 18th Century”/h3>
On 9 December 2014 the refurbished permanent display “Russian Culture of the Second Half of the 18th Century” opened in the Winter Palace. It is devoted to the artistic, scientific and socio-political life of the Russian Empire in that period and its place in the general European context. The seven restored halls contain around 400 exhibits from the stocks of the State Hermitage.
Opening of a New Permanent Display “Armourer’s Art of the Middle East. 15th–19th Centuries”
On 9 December 2014, a new permanent display opened in the White Column Hall of the Winter Palace – “The Armourer’s Art of the Middle East. 15th–19th Centuries” which presents weaponry from Arabia, Ottoman Turkey, North Africa and Iran. The inclusion in the display of items created by craftsmen in the Caucasus and Central Asia, which lie outside the specified geographic area, is determined by the strong ties of weapon-making tradition between those regions and the Islamic countries of the Middle East. The display demonstrates all the variety of types and decorative forms of pieces of weaponry and also the meanings that attach to them, inviting visitors to acquaint themselves with various aspects of such a fascinating sphere of the material culture of the Middle Eastern peoples as the armourer’s art.
The Hermitage Ball. Formal Meeting of the Museum Staff
On 9 December 2014 the St George Hall was the venue for a general meeting of the museum staff that was addressed by Mikhail Piotrovsky, the General Director of the State Hermitage. In the evening a musical surprise – a gift from the Mikhailovsky Theatre – awaited the staff in the Hermitage Theatre.
The Hermitage for the City and Its Citizens. An Assessment of the Museum’s Economic and Social Contribution to the Life of the City
For the 250th jubilee of the State Hermitage, the European University in St Petersburg with the support of Gazprombank carried out a study into the influence of the cultural institution on the city and the region. The research project focussed on the economic effect (direct and indirect) and the social effect of the State Hermitage on the life of St Petersburg, its inhabitants and visitors.
A Day without Charges for All Categories of Visitors
To mark its 250th anniversary the Hermitage made a present to the inhabitants and guests of St Petersburg – on 10 December individuals could visit free of charge all the Hermitage sites – the main museum complex, the Eastern Wing of the General Staff, the Menshikov Palace, the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory and the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre. On that day 13,698 people visited the Hermitage.
Music of the Evening Hermitage
On 10 December 2014 Music of the Evening Hermitage festival was held.
Free Entry to the General Staff
To mark the 250th anniversary the Hermitage arranged entry free of charge for visitors to the General Staff after the opening of the new permanent displays and temporary exhibitions. On 11, 18 and 25 December 5,833 people visited the General Staff with free tickets.
Exhibition in the Kaliningrad Art Gallery “For the 250th Anniversary of the State Hermitage”
On 12 December 2014 the exhibition “For the 250th Anniversary of the State Hermitage” opened in the Kalingrad Art Gallery. The display featured gifts made at various times by the Hermitage to the Art gallery, the Museum of the World Ocean, the Amber Museum, the Regional Museum of History and Art, the Gusev Museum of History and Local Lore, the Museum of the History of Sovestsk and the Brachert House Museum.
“Meet Yamal!” Festival
On 14 December 2014 the Hermitage’s Youth Centre hosted the festival “Meet Yamal!” This year the festival programme marked the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage and the 84th anniversary of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. During the opening ceremony the youngsters belonging to the “Hermitage for the Mind and Heart” gave a presentation of “Yamal through the Magic Crystal of the Hermitage”.
Presentation of the Book The Hermitage XXI. The New Art Museum in the General Staff Building
On 17 December 2014 the Lecture Hall of the General Staff was the setting for the presentation of the book The Hermitage XXI. The New Art Museum in the General Staff Building produced by the London-based publishing house Thames & Hudson in December 2014 for the 250th anniversary of the State Hermitage. The protagonist of the book is the actual General Staff building, and outstanding work by the architect Carlo Rossi, open of the high spots of the Russian Empire style and one of the symbols of Tsarist Russia. For the first time in its entire history the General Staff is presented to readers in such an abundance of documentary and visual material and in such a variety of cultural discourses.
Opening of the Exhibition “Unfading Colours. A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel”
On 18 December 2014, the “Unfading Colours. A Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel” exhibition opened in the Transformer Hall of the General Staff Building. This exhibition in the Hermitage is the final stage of an almost five-year journey around Europe and America for a Roman floor mosaic that is astonishing for its beauty, its masterly execution, its size and its state of preservation. The exhibition continued until 25 April 2015.
An Evening Event for Members of the Friends of the Hermitage Club
On 19 December 2014 a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage was arranged for individual members of the Friends of the Hermitage Club with participation of journalists of the Hermitage pool. The evening began with a stroll through the General Staff building. The friends were shown the new permanent displays and temporary exhibitions that were opened on that day for the guests of the event.
Gala Evening in Tel Aviv Marking the 250th Anniversary of the Hermitage
On 21 December 2014 the Tel Aviv Museum of Art held a gala evening marking the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage.
Opening of the Exhibition “Inspired by the Hermitage”, Part of the “Christmas Gift” Series
On 23 December 2014 the exhibition “Inspired by the Hermitage” opened in the side area of the Eastern Gallery of the Winter Palace as part of the “Christmas Gift” series. It presented some 200 pieces of designer porcelain created by artists of the Imperial Porcelain Factory. In the year of the Hermitage’s 250th anniversary the porcelain factory carried out a special “Inspired by the Hermitage” project with twenty artists participating. The exhibition continued until 29 March 2015.
Exhibition of “The Unknown Hermitage. Marking the 250th Anniversary of the State Hermitage” in the Maritime Region State Picture Gallery
On 23 December 2014 the exhibition “The Unknown Hermitage. Marking the 250th Anniversary of the State Hermitage” opened in the Maritime Region State Picture Gallery in Vladivostok. The exhibition presented works from the Far Eastern Art Museum (Khabarovsk) and the Maritime Region State Picture Gallery (Vladivostok) that came from the Hermitage collection of Western European art of the 13th to 20th centuries. The more than 60 paintings and some 20 works of graphic art being presented to the general public for the first time were transferred from the Hermitage to the museums in Russia’s Far East in the 1930s.
“New Year in the Hermitage”. A Festive Occasion for Children with Disabilities
On 24 December 2014 the Hermitage Theatre was the setting for the traditional festive event for children with disabilities “New Year in the Hermitage”. This year the keynote of the occasion was the 250th anniversary. For their dramatizations the children chose the setting of the Hermitage’s halls, where the young heroes talked to personages from French and Flemish painting who had come to life and showed them the way to the world of the beautiful.
A Gift from the St Petersburg English Assembly to the State Hermitage
On 25 December 2014 representatives of the St Petersburg English Assembly (English Club) presented the museum with Napoleon on the Battlefield of Austerlitz by the St Petersburg artist Adolphe Charlemagne. This work is one of the first illustrations produced for Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace and supplemented the Hermitage’s collection of 19th-century Russian illustrations.
A New Year Party for the Hermitage Staff
On 26 December 2014 the Hermitage Theatre was the venue for a New Year Party, including the presentation of Commendations from the Government of the Russian Federation to members of staff. This was followed by a light-hearted programme of amateur sketches.
Opening of the Exhibition “We Draw and Paint in the Hermitage”
On 27 December 2014 the exhibition of works by pupils of the Art Studio of the Schools Centre entitled “We Draw and Paint in the Hermitage” opened in the Foyer of the Hermitage Theatre. As is traditional, the exhibition was accompanied by a costumed New Year’s performance prepared by the studio’s pupils.
Exhibition-Presentation of New Gifts to the State Hermitage
On 30 December 2014 the last exhibition of the year opened in the Apollo Hall, presenting as is traditional the most interesting items donated to the museum in the previous twelve months. In 2014 these were gifts to the State Hermitage on the occasion of its 250th anniversary. The exhibition continued until 19 January 2015.
A Gift from Nikolai Gordeyev, the President of OFK Bank
On 30 December 2014, at the traditional exhibition-presentation of new gifts in the Apollo Hall, Nikolai Gordeyev, the President of OFK Bank, handed over to the museum 20 works by the well known St Petersburg photographer Boris Smelov.
Anna Konivets’s Book The Winter Palace: From Imperial Residence to the Cavalry School of Osoavuakhim
The 250th-anniversary year saw the publication of a book by Anna Konivets, a member of the museum staff – The Winter Palace: From Imperial Residence to the Cavalry School of Osoaviakhim. This publication reconstructs the history of the Winter Palace from the early 20th century to the late 1930s (Osoaviakhim was an organization whose purpose was to produce reserves for the Soviet armed forces). Using archive material, the author describes the daily life of the building before the revolution, the palace servants and the protection of the imperial residence. She tells about many significant events that took place in the Winter Palace during the reign of Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor, and about people connected with the court who after the revolution linked their lives to the Hermitage.
250 Tales of the Hermitage: A Collection of Motley Chapters
The jubilee year saw the publication of the first three volumes of 250 Tales of the Hermitage: A Collection of Motley Chapters. This book came into being as part of the “Hermitage 2014” project created by the museum and the OMO/AMO studio. The concept was thought up by Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky. The anthology presents stories connected with the history of the museum and people who worked in it. The essays and sketches are written by members of the Hermitage staff who tell about scholarly problems that arise when studying objects, about the collections and exhibits, about the latest finds and discoveries.
Vladimir Matveyev’s Book The Secluded Hermitage, or the Exhibition Mosaic
For the 250th anniversary two volumes of the book The Secluded Hermitage, or the Exhibition Mosaic by Vladimir Matveyev, the Deputy General Director of the State Hermitage for Exhibitions and Development, were brought out. This publication is part of a trilogy on the museum’s exhibition activities. The book contains material on the history of the museum’s work in this field – exhibitions in the Hermitage itself and its external centres.
