The State Hermitage Museum III: Eastern Europe’s Largest Collection

By Dean Gregory, to Museum Spotlight Europe (June, 2021) 

In the previous installment in our three-part series, we toured Egyptian mummies, Murano glass from Venice and glass works from the Eastern Mediterranean. In the third and final piece in the series, we will uncover archaeological treasures from Oman, drawings and prints of Dürer, Russian porcelain and other art museums in Russia worth visiting.  

Archaeology from Oman

In collaboration with the National Museum of Oman, the Hermitage Museum presents a collection of artifacts and works spanning from the third to first millennia BC in the exhibition Oman: the Land of Frankincense. Pivoting on four themes, the exhibition highlights include: ancient stone mijmars or incense-burners, an Indus seal featuring an inscription and a stone countenance from a temple of Sin and delicate metalworks. 

The first of the four themes explored is the Magan, which is considered the oldest territory in Oman; the second revolves around the Land of Frankincense where four UNESCO World Heritage sites reside; the third and fourth themes focus on the Iron Age and illuminate the snake cults that dominated Arabia spiritually, prior to the adoption of monotheistic religious faiths. The exhibition takes place until December 12, 2021.      

, The State Hermitage Museum III: Eastern Europe’s Largest Collection, Museum Spotlight Europe

Votive basin with an inscription

Bronze

3rd. c. BCE

Khor Rori, Sumhuram

The National Museum of Oman

Celebrating Albrecht Dürer

In commemoration of Albrecht Dürer’s 550th birthday, the Hermitage Museum, in collaboration with the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, presents a treasure-trove of Dürer’s drawings and prints. Among approximately 300 pieces, key works include: The Life of the Virgin, The Passion and The Apocalypse. The exhibition highlights altarpiece studies and sketches of churches’ stained glass windows. Born in Nuremberg, Germany, the artist rose to fame during his life for his prints, drawings, altarpieces as well as paintings, which feature a seamless synthesis of Northern European and Italian Renaissance styles. The exhibition, Albrecht Dürer: 550th Anniversary of the Artists Birth, takes place from December 8, 2021 through March 28, 2022.

Gutenberg’s Bible

The Hermitage Museum’s exhibition, The Gutenberg Bible: Early Modern Books, displays the original Gutenberg Bible, on loan from the Russian State Library Collection. In addition, guests have access to 100 early printed manuscripts and books, including pamphlets from Martin Luther and German translations of the Bible. 

The Gutenberg Bible was printed originally in Mainz, Germany in 1455 by Johann Gutenberg and his colleagues Peter Schoeffer and Johann Fust. Only 48 copies of the original printing exist today, located in the Vatican Library in Rome, the Diocesan Museum in Pelpin, Poland and the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. The exhibition takes place from September 12, 2021 through March 13, 2022.

, The State Hermitage Museum III: Eastern Europe’s Largest Collection, Museum Spotlight Europe

Liber horarum.

South Netherlands (Ghent, Brussels). Circa 1460–65.

©State Hermitage

Orthodox Church Vestments

Visitors can view vestments from the Russian Orthodox Church in the exhibition, Orthodox Church Vestments of the Seventeenth to Early Twentieth Centuries in the Hermitage Collection. This exhibition commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Hermitage’s Department of the History of Russian Culture. The show takes place in the Sretenskaya Church of the Winter Palace, giving visitors unprecedented access to the collection of liturgical garbs. 

The roots of the clothing stem from the traditions of the Byzantine Empire that ruled for approximately 1,000 years from Constantinople or modern-day Istanbul, Turkey. Highlights of the collection include a 19th-century Crimson Velvet Sticharion embroidered with “The Coronation of the Virgin Mary” on the shoulders. Another garment of special mention is a green silk Phelonion, sewn from 17th-century fabric from Persia, with a Russian-crafted embroidered stole. The exhibition lasts until March 13, 2022. 

, The State Hermitage Museum III: Eastern Europe’s Largest Collection, Museum Spotlight Europe

Red velvet phelonion bearing an embroidered depiction of the Resurrection

Velvet, silk, metallic thread, cannetille, spangles. Technique: embroidery

Russia. Late 19th century.

19th Century Russian Porcelain Painting

The exhibition, Vivant Beaucé and August Lippold, Painters on Russian Porcelain, celebrates the work of two European artists who created at the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory during the times of Emperor Alexander II. Ceremonial vases, created by the French ornamentalist Beaucé, feature sketches and renderings of the paintings of old masters, which were executed by Lippold. The show features approximately 40 works and takes place from December 25, 2021 through May 10, 2022. 

Other museums in Russia

Before bidding you farewell, Museum Spotlight Europe would like to briefly introduce a couple of other museums in Russia to consider after you visit the Hermitage. In Moscow, the Pushkin Museum features a vast collection of archaeological wonders from across the globe as well as paintings, sculptures and works of graphic art. Highlights include Fayum mummy portraits from Egypt, a Hellenistic stele from the 4th century BC, Botticelli’s Annunciation, Rembrandt’s Ahasuerus and Renoir’s Portrait of actress Jeane Samary. Named to posthumously commemorate the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, the institution opened in 1912 and houses approximately 700,000 works of art. 

In St. Petersburg, enthusiasts of contemporary art may enjoy the St. Petersburg Museum of Contemporary Art or Erarta, which is the largest private museum in the country. By taxi, Erarta is 20 minutes from the Hermitage Museum.

To conclude this series, we hope you’ve enjoyed the journey through the Hermitage’s extensive collections and exhibitions. Located in Central St. Petersburg, the museum is easily accessed from a medley of accommodation options by public transportation, taxi or on foot.

Cover image by the Hermitage Museum

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