Treasury! Masterpieces from the Hermitage

In 2019 the exhibition centre on the Amstel will be celebrating its tenth anniversary. During that period the Hermitage has presented more than 6,000 exhibits that have been seen by more than 3.5 million visitors. Over the decade, sixteen very different large-scale exhibitions have been organized, including “Peter The Great, an Inspired Tsar”, “Catherine the Great”, “Alexander, Napoleon & Josephine, a Story of Friendship, War and Art”, “Rubens, Van Dyck & Jordaens”, “Matisse to Malevich. Pioneers of Modern Art”, “Impressionism: Sensation & Inspiration”, “Gauguin, Bonnard, Denis: A Russian Taste for French Art”, “Spanish Masters”, “Expedition. The Silk Road” and “1917. Romanovs & Revolution. The End of Monarchy”.

The jubilee exhibition presents masterpieces of painting, sculpture and applied art in a dialogue one with another and at the same time demonstrates unique exhibits following the principle of the formation of the Hermitage’s unique collections over the entire period of its existence (imperial–Soviet–current) in the context of the evolution of art. The deliberate disregard in the composition of the display of any unity of time and place for the creation of the works provides both professionals and lay enthusiasts with occasion for discussions. Exhibition-goers are invited to delve into the meaning of the existence of art objects as such, in the past and present, and also to try to grasp how culture might change in the future.

A large section of the exhibition is made up of masterpieces from the Hermitage collection examined through the model of comparisons or reminiscences, in the multiple meanings of the word.

Presented among these reminiscences are some splendid works of painting: Lucas Cranach the Elder’s The Virgin and Child Under an Apple Tree (late 1520s) and Lorenzo Lotto’s Madonna della Grazie (1542); the 16th-century Nude Woman (“Donna Nuda”) by the school of Leonardo da Vinci and a Nude by Henri Matisse from 1908; Jacopo Tintoretto’s Saint George (ca. 1555–58) and a Russian icon of Saint George (first half of the 16th century); Diego Velazquez’s Luncheon (ca. 1617) and The Supper at Emmaus (17th century) by Jacopo Chimenti (Jacopo da Empoli). Placed alongside one another are a granite Statue of Egyptian Pharaoh Amenemhet III (second half of the 19th century BC) and a marble Bust of Russian Empress Catherine II (1773) by Jean-Antoine Houdon; a marble Torso of Aphrodite (a Roman work of the 2nd century after a Greek original of the 4th century BC) and the bronze sculpture Spring (1910–11) by Aristide Maillol; an ancient red-figure krater vase (340–330 BC) and a Russian porcelain “krater vase” (1831); a silver Sassanid dish (first half of the 4th century) and an Italian majolica dish (early17th century); a felt Pazyryk culture figure of a swan (3rd century BC) and the stuffed swan installation Stupidity standing on Death (2016) created by the contemporary Belgian artist Jan Fabre. Other eloquent reminiscences make up 17 pairs in total.

The works are presented in special relationships to one another, in a dialogue of historical eras, artistic styles and tendencies; in a juxtaposition of shared subjects and specific details; in a comparison of creative manners. It is interesting to examine similar phenomena in their various mutual connections; to find things they have in common and things that set them apart; to reflect on the constant striving after perfection and to return once more to the question of the significance of works of art in our contemporary world, especially if they are the works of acknowledged artists.

Another section of the exhibition presents encyclopaedic art in an encyclopaedic museum.

The foundation of the Hermitage’s stocks was laid by Catherine the Great in 1764 with the acquisition of a collection of paintings assembled by the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. Besides paintings, Catherine bought up outstanding works of sculpture, cameos, intaglios and rare coins. The Treasure Gallery created in the Empress’s reign contained exquisite pieces of jewellery. Collecting works of art became a concern for the entire dynasty of Russian rulers. Each of them, guided by their own tastes and current artistic trends, made their contribution to the enlargement of one of Europe’s finest treasuries of art.

The multi-faceted items included in the exhibition are united by eras, but, taken as a whole, they form a sort of “ribbon of history”. The first chronologically is the most ancient item in the Hermitage collection – a Palaeolithic female sculpture known as the Venus of Kostenki carved from limestone 23,000 years ago, with exaggerated attributes of fertility. Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, awe-inspiring, as the amazing creation of a civilization from the distant past it provides an opportunity not just to gain an insight into prehistoric conceptions of the forces of nature and magical rituals, but also to look back at the very start of the development of world culture. Among the unique works that follow are bronze figurines of animals and humans from the Bambora Horde (6th–5th centuries BC); an extremely rare miniature sardonyx Ancient Roman vessel (1st century AD); a splendid rock crystal Egyptian lamp (second half of the 10th century) in a precious European mount; the world-famous Freiburg Cross (last quarter of the 13th century); the luxurious musical Apollo Bureau constructed by the celebrated David Roentgen (ca. 1784) and many other rarities.

The “cabinets” contain unique thematic collections organized on the principle of presenting each of the State Hermitage’s dozen research-and-custodial departments. For example, the masterpieces of Western European painting in the museum stocks are represented by Rogier van der Weyden’s St Luke Drawing the Virgin (15th century), Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s Stolen Kiss (1787–88), Anthony van Dyck’s Portrait of Nicolaes Rockox (ca. 1621), Caspar David Friedrich’s Sunset (after 1830) and more. The exhibition includes some splendid works of graphic art created by Rembrandt, Dürer and Dumoustier. Silver and glassware, porcelain, bronzes, stone articles, pieces of furniture, examples of arms and armour and numismatic items tell about the wealth and diversity of the Hermitage’s stocks. The exhibition also has a section reflecting contemporary art in the museum.

The commissar of the exhibition is Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage. The curators and authors of the exhibition concept are Irina Bagdasarova (State Hermitage museum) and Vincent Boele (Hermitage–Amsterdam).

The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue in Dutch and English. The publication has a foreword by Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage – “Art History in Russian” and a foreword by Cathelijne Broers, Director of the Hermitage–Amsterdam exhibition centre – “An Art Historical Noah’s Ark”.

The authors of the catalogue texts are: Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage – “The Hermitage in a Global World”; Irina Bagdasarova, senior researcher in the State Hermitage’s Department of the History of Russian Culture – “Reminiscences in Art in the Context of this Exhibition”; John Leighton, Director of the National Galleries of Scotland – “Creating Connections: The Stolen Kiss by Jean-Honoré Fragonard”; Vincent Boele, Curator of Exhibitions at the Hermitage-Amsterdam – “A Broader View of Art” and Henk van Os, former Director of the Rijksmuseum (1989–96) – “A Piece of Unsolicited Advice”.

The design for the exhibition and catalogue was devised by the gebr. Silvestri studio, Amsterdam, Netherlands.