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In a memoir, the museum’s longtime director takes the reader on a private tour of this global treasure. Holding one of the largest collections of Western art in the world, the Hermitage is also a product of Russia and its dramatic history. Founded by Empress Catherine the Great in 1764, the stunning Winter Palace was built to house her growing collection of Old Masters and to serve as a home for the imperial family. Tsars came and went over the years, artworks were acquired and sold, buildings were burned down in terrible fires, and still the collections grew. After the violent upheavals of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the palaces and collections were opened to the public. Now, in an unprecedented collection of illuminating essays, Piotrovsky explores the cultural history of a collection as rich in adventure as art. From fascinating intrigues to revelatory scholarship on the collection’s incredible art and artifacts, My Hermitage is a profound and captivating story of art’s timelessness and how it brings people together.
A stunning volume showcasing the magnificent court dress of the Russian Empire, culled from the authoritative collection at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, photographed with the Winter Palace as a backdrop. Prerevolutionary Russia was renowned for the glamorous and luxurious lifestyles of the nobility, with their opulent palaces and glittering social life. Now, this lavish volume reveals the incredible clothing they wore, from everyday dress and ceremonial attire (traditional holidays outfits and military uniforms) to dress for special occasions, including elaborate evening wear for theater and musical events and fancy masquerade balls. Celebrated for luxurious materials and im...
Highlights from the palatial Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, are beautifully reproduced in an accessible volume celebrating the museum's 250th anniversary. For 250 years, the State Hermitage Museum has been one of the world's most palatial and significant museums. The Hermitage collections were developed beginning in 1764 by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, and now encompass more than 3 million works of art and artifacts displayed within a spectacular architectural ensemble, the heart of which is the famed Winter Palace. Now, on this important anniversary, this stunning volume captures the masterpieces that make this world-famous institution a cultural destination and a gl...
This beautifully illustrated book shows examples of Russian dress and accessories from the 15th to the early 20th century. Derived from the collection of the State Historical Museum and covering both dress worn in the countryside and in the city, this book is a fabulous feast of splendid patterns and fine detail. From exuberantly colorful and embellished dresses to elegantly sumptuous brocades and silks, the garments and accessories included in this book are an inspiration. In the first part of the book we look at traditional Russian dress, which was worn by all Russian peasants, by the urban petit bourgeoisie and by merchants. This type of clothing became accepted as national dress. In the towns and cities, dress was influenced by the Parisian styles but interpreted by Russian seamstresses reflecting the love of bright colors, multi-colored patterns and decorative features in evidence in traditional dress. With authoritative essays written by experts L. Yefimova and T. Aleshina, Russian Elegance is an invaluable resource for fashion designers, artists, fashion historians, set and costume designers, or anyone interested in these beautiful designs.
Before becoming a city, St. Petersburg was a utopian vision in the mind of its founder, Peter the Great. Conceived by him as Russia's "window to the West," it evolved into a remarkably harmonious assemblage of baroque, rococo, neoclassical, and art nouveau buildings that reflect his taste and that of his successors, including Anna I, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great, and Paul I. Crisscrossed by rivers and canals, this "Venice of the North," as Goethe dubbed it, is of unique beauty. Never before has that beauty been captured as eloquently as on the pages of this sumptuous volume. From the stately mansions lining the fabled Nevsky Prospekt to the magnificent palaces of the tsars on the outskir...
A PDF version of this book is available for free in open access via the OAPEN Library platform, www.oapen.org. This book examines the significance of networks among the firms operative in the contemporary Russian software industry in the St. Petersburg region.
In 1701 Tsar Peter the Great decreed that all residents of Moscow must abandon their traditional dress and wear European fashion. Those who produced or sold Russian clothing would face "dreadful punishment." Peter's dress decree, part of his drive to make Russia more like Western Europe, had a profound impact on the history of Imperial Russia. This engrossing book explores the impact of Westernization on Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries and presents a wealth of photographs of ordinary Russians in all their finery. Christine Ruane draws on memoirs, mail-order catalogues, fashion magazines, and other period sources to demonstrate that Russia's adoption of Western fashion had symbolic, economic, and social ramifications and was inseparably linked to the development of capitalism, industrial production, and new forms of communication. This book shows how the fashion industry became a forum through which Russians debated and formulated a new national identity.
Celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Steven Spielberg's sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind with this deluxe book exploring the creation, production, and legacy of the iconic film. It's been forty years since Steven Spielberg's seminal sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind first captivated audiences. Now fans can follow the complete creative journey behind the making of the film with this stunning book that both commemorates the movie and examines its cultural impact. Featuring rare and never-before-seen imagery from the archives, Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History brings together a stunning collection of on-set photography, concept art...
This publication is aimed at animal-lovers in general and especially those who are fond of cats. The book gives a wide-ranging and detailed presentation of the "feline" exhibits in the Hermitage: Ancient Egyptian bronze, mediaeval European painting, Chinese and Japanese graphic art, Russian lubok prints of the 18th to 20th centuries, cats in the form of fans, toys and much more. The book also contains a unique account of the history of the real-life Hermitage cats that have been employed in the service of the museum for over 260 years.
Specially commissioned photographs by Marc Walter and fascinating archive images capture a bygone age of Romanov splendor that will captivate art lovers and historians alike