The Art Collections of the Hermitage

July 7, 2024September 21, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

The Hermitage possesses over 3 million items including some of the finest examples of European art and holds the largest collection of paintings in the world. The art collection was founded in 1764 by Empress Catherine, those purchases coming via an art dealer her country of birth, Germany, and much expanded by her successors. It has been open to the public since 1852. There is comparatively little Russian art- that is to be found at the also excellent albeit much smaller Russian museum. European artists dominate the collection of paintings and sculpture, and much of it is French, Italian and Dutch. The excellent collection of Impressionists is in the General Staff Building

There are tons of portraits in the Winter Palace, the majority of them of high quality. You see more of Catherine the Great than any others, it seems, which isn’t surprising given who founded the museum.

Several that I found of particular interest. This painting was done in the French Rococo style. The woman is wearing a colored silk dress. There are contrasts of colors and strong shadows.

Jean-Honore Fragonard and Marguerite Gerard's 'The Stolen Kiss' (late 1780s) — Jean-Honore Fragonard ‘The Stolen Kiss’ (late 1780s)

The next painting gets the following write up in the Hermitage site: “Few artists have truly successfully depicted children, but Anthony van Dyck in this portrait of the daughters of Philip, 4th Lord Wharton, produced a genuinely appealing image. It was painted during the late, English period of the artist’s career, and is executed well within the traditions of Western European official portraiture. The girls are shown posing statically against a very roughly indicated, generalised background, with just a hint of a decorative landscape. Dressed and coiffed a la mode, they look like true grown up ladies, the eldest holding herself importantly and with a sense of her own importance, just like a lady at court. The youngest gently holds her sister by the shoulder, frozen in the pose in which she has been stood by the artist. The official majesty of the formal portrait is softened by the little dog, surprised by his mistresses’ immobility, who scratches wonderingly at the eldest girl’s dress with one paw. With its elegant colour scheme, dominated by cold pearly-grey and silver-blue, and the virtuoso skill in conveying the texture of fabrics and jewellery, van Dyck’s painting yet manages to be a very gentle and informal image of two charming girls.” https://www.arthermitage.org/Anthony-van-Dyck/Portrait-of-Elizabeth-and-Philadelphia-Wharton.html

Anthony Van Dyck Portrait of Philadelphia and Elizabeth Wharton

Caravaggio is a master of the light, although this is not the most dramatic of his paintings in this regard. There are three versions of this painting. The version in the Uffizi there is a table-top in front of the player, but in this versions it is marble with a violin and flowers. The notes are so exactly painted that we know who the printer is, the Roman Valerio Dorica.

The collections are in six historic buildings along the Palace Embankment, that is along the River Neva. The Winter Palace is the largest of the buildings and has the most art – all of these photos are from this building. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad, such as the one in Amsterdam.

In the basement there is Siberian and Caucus art- one small example:The Roman and Greek collections, as well as the Egyptian, are also in the basement area.

The museum supplies a good map, but it is still a challenge to navigate at times. It took me a while to wind my way to the cafe area in the Winter Palace. There are only two and for whatever reason they are right next to each other. There are some grand spots elsewhere in the Winter Palace where having a coffee would have been quite luxurious!

I’ll remember the Hermitage rather more for the rooms than the art, which while excellent, is to be found elsewhere as well. One could say the same of the palace, but I found it different enough, and it’s general setting as well, to easily justify the costs and challenges of coming to Russia.

The Golden Palaces of the Hermitage

July 7, 2024September 16, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

The State Hermitage Museum is one of the world’s great treasures, both for its palaces and for its magnificent art collection, the world’s largest. In the next post will be about the art.

The exterior of the Winter Palace, a green and white 3 story building, is full of sculptures, vases and Corinthian columns. When you enter are greeted by this magnificent staircase.

The palaces were built for various Russian czars and are the rival of Versailles. This Winter Palace has 1786 doors, 1945 windows, 117 staircases and 1057 lavishly decorated rooms.

You make your way around the Winter Palace with the aid of a well designed map, which helps a great deal but you have to bear in mind that the palaces were not built with tourists in mind, so you can still have a hard time finding what you are looking for if you are not skilled at map reading. I found that the guards could get you pointed in the right direction, despite not speaking much if any English, nor I any Russian beyond vodka and nyet.

These gold leaf columns knock you down with their luster.

There are many wonderful of caryatids, many of them in gold leaf.

The ceilings are magnificent as well.

The photos in this post come from the Winter Palace. There are 6 others open to the public. They are the Old Hermitage, The New Hermitage, the Small Hermitage, the Hermitage Theater, and the most recent additions, the General Staff Building and the

Winter Palace, Hermitage, St Petersburg Russia

In 1731 Empress Anna Ioannovna commissioned Rastrelli, the court architect, later the famous master of late baroque to build the Winter Palace. He completed it in 1735. Seventeen years later Empress Elizaveta Petrovna hired him to expand the building. However he decided to start over. The new plans were approved in 1754. The building was finished in 1764 under Catherine.

Savior on the Spilled Blood- an amazing church/museum in St Petersburg

July 7, 2024September 14, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Speaking of over the top, is this not the best example?

The garish former church (now a museum) has a steeple that is 81m (265 ft) high. The bell tower on the left has 144 individual mosaic coats of arms representing provinces, cities and towns of the Russian empire that reflected grief over the murder of Czar Alexander II.

Photos of the interior are below the text. The walls and ceilings are covered with mosaic paintings. some 8000 square yards in all, with nary an inch left un-decorated. The interior of the church has multi-colored marble from Italy and colored stone from different regions of Russia including Ural jasper, porphyry, violet gray Altai jasper, dark red, pink and green marble.

The building commemorates the assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881. It was built from 1883 to 1907 under Nicolas II. There is a canopy erected over the spot of the assassination. Not baroque like so much of St Petersburg, this style has its origins in medieval Russian architecture. It is similar to 17th-century churches in Yaroslav, northeast of Moscow and a World Heritage site, as well as St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. The spheres atop the spires stand out against any sky and are as far out as anything you might see at Familia Sagrada, for example, if even more demanding of attention.

The interior mosaics were painted by Vladimir Belyaev, Nikolay Kharlamov, Andrei Ryabushkin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Ryabushkin, Nikolay Koshelev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Koshelev, Nikolay Shakhovskoy, Alexander Novoskoltsev, and others.

After WWII the cathedral was used by the Maly Opera Theater for storage. There were broken windows, holes in the roof and the cupolas. Restoration began in 1980.

Here’s an interesting use of light:

Savior on the Spilled Blood secular scene

This is a world treasure and a must visit!

Apraksin Dvor, a working class street market near some very fancy shops in St Petersburg

July 7, 2024September 11, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

This is where people with less money go to buy and sell, quite the contrast from the high street just a few minutes away. It is next to some very fancy areas and is slated for massive development, so this folksy shopping will be moved to the city’s edges. The area is about 35 acres of streets and buildings in rough shape.

We bought umbrellas from one of the vendors. He spoke English fairly well and as it turned out he was born in Pakistan. He complained that the Russians are adverse to learning any languages. While we were there a couple came by to ask the price of another umbrella. He attended them briefly and then came back to say they are from one of the stans. How could he tell, Peg asked. From their accent? No, from their appearance. The distinction escaped us.

The goods could be from almost anywhere, except some of the very Russian winter hats with the fur ear flaps and a few other things. There is a wide and fascinating variety of facial features, however, and in a few cases the dress is not typically western. I’ll be looking to get photos as we go along. I’ve seen some that would make very interesting paintings.

Gostinvy Dvor shopping center, just around the corner

Some over the top buildings in St Petersburg Russia

July 7, 2024September 10, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Here is a good sample of the ornate if not gaudy buildings sprinkled throughout the city.

Church of the Savior on Blood, St Petersburg Russia

A brief glimpse of St Petersburg

July 7, 2024September 9, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

September 8, 2017

On our first full day in St. Petersburg, after an effortless 3.5 hour train ride from Helsinki, we took trolley 3 from the Metro Pushkinskaya area to Lenin Square. This trolley takes you through some of the most attractive areas of St Petersburg. Being on the trolley makes photography difficult as many of the interesting structures go by quickly or are too far away. I got a couple of snaps from my phone, though, to give you some sense of what it’s like. You’ll notice they seem to love golden domes and spires.

Being on the tram did not make people watching difficult at all, although you could be almost anywhere in the US or Europe judging by appearance and dress. I’ve seen several women with striking long black hair, faces as white as snow and dressed for a night on the town. Otherwise it’s very much like what you see in the photo, which I grabbed off the public domain to avoid taking photos of people on the tram.

Other than the domes the architecture is generally pretty similar. The vehicles include many of the same brands you see anywhere in the US or Europe. The city is often described as being the most European of Russia’s cities, entirely justified as far as I can tell so far.

We stopped for lunch at a kind of bakery that made pies- meat, chicken, fish, mushroom, berry. Very good and very Russian.

Language is a barrier for us. In the central part of the city most menus are translated. This was not the case in the pie place but a waitress spoke English fairly well and served up everything with shy charm. On our first night we ate at a posh place recommended as being very traditional by our friendly landlady. The translations were just so so but we did get what we ordered. In my case it was a shrimp dish with dill (everywhere here), parsley and a small portion of some cooked greens that I could not identify but enjoyed greatly. They had Russian wine on the menu, which is almost always sweet, so we ordered some red from Spain. It was decent and not too expensive (in Helsinki there’s nothing less than $35). We saw also found Spanish wines in the grocery stores, not the best Spain has to offer but acceptable.

I am enthused about being here. This is a fabulous city known especially for the Hermitage, one of the world’s best museums= in fact it is a collection of museums in palaces built by a series of czars starting with Peter. More to come!

Herculaneum (Ercolano)

July 7, 2024August 25, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Herculaneum (Ercolano in Italian) is an archaeological site on the Italian coast a bit south of Rome. The town, inhabited since the 6th century BCE, was destroyed in 79 CE, by the same eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii. Herculaneum was buried in pyroclastic rock and ash – 15- 20 meters/65 feet – and was struck by extremely high temperatures, killing all the remaining residents instantly. As a result the site offers a far greater insight into the life and death of the residents of populations destroyed by the eruption than Pompeii, and because of its greater state of preservation, is a more interesting place to visit.

Where in Pompeii there were no skeletons, just the area hollowed out in the ash by the skeleton (filled in with plaster of Paris), in Herculaneum they found some 300 intact skeletons. Analysis showed us their occupation, health, diet – we can even distinguish those who ate meat from those who did not. Some had lead poisoning, perhaps from lead pipes Romans sometimes used.

These individuals died from exposure to intense heat, in the range of 500C, close 1,000F. They were in structures built to protect inhabitants from falling debris, as the area was highly prone to earthquakes. Those in the shelter were women and children. Just outside the arched shelters on the beach – which as a result of the eruption is now some 400 meters/yards further west – they found the skeletons of a few men. A boat was nearby, so they were planning an escape.

The archaeologists found food intact, e.g. olives and flour, as well as furniture and fabrics. The relatively light weight of the fallout meant that roofs remain intact, as do other wooden elements such as doors, lintels and trim. They found wooden furniture, sculptures and frescoes with bright colors.

Herculaneum - wooden chest — Herculaneum – wooden chest

Here’s an excellent BBC video about the site:

Domus Aurea

July 7, 2024August 20, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Domus Aurea

The Domus Aurea – The Golden House – now sits beneath ground level just above the Coliseum on the Via Celio Vibenna side. It was buried after the death of the Emperor who had it built, the infamous and wildly unpopular Nero. In its glory it was a vast entertainment palace surrounded by extensive and gorgeously landscaped grounds. When the underground are was discovered in the early 1500’s by a farmer whose shovel broke through the ceiling of one of the immense galleries, it was explored by Raphael and other artists, who were infatuated by the art they found, and so the Domus came to influene European art for the next 500 years. Thanks to the high tech 3d goggles included with the entrance fee, you get a good sense of its beauty and scale.

The complex extended to the Palatine, Esquiline, Oppian and Caelian hills, although the exact extent of the development is not known. It included a man made lake in what was before a marshy valley, located where the Coliseum is now; the latter was built to replace the lake. There were groves, vineyards, and pastures and a huge bronze of Nero, called Colossus Neronis, last mentioned in the 4th century. It was placed at the end of Via Appia, about a kilometer from the current visitor’s entrance, but later moved to where the Coliseum is now located, and to which it gave its name.

There were some 300 variously designed rooms, none of them sleeping quarters, and neither were there kitchens nor latrines. Nero’s residence remained on the Quirinali Hill. The walls were covered with polished white marble. Openings lit the pools, fountains and the frescoes that fascinated Raphael and his colleagues 15 centuries later. An interesting tidbit- Nero’s chief artist for the complex was called Fabulus ( presumably from Latin fabulosus “celebrated in fable;” also “rich in myths,” from fabula , story or tale) or Famulus. This suggests that our use of ‘fabulous’ was changed from having to do with fables to being wonderful, as a result of the discovery of Domus.

Fabulus and his assistants painted on wet plaster, a method we call ‘fresco,’ meaning ‘fresh, that yields such permanence that we still have good images from 2000+ years ago. The exposure to the cool (you need long sleeves even in summer) damp air of the caverns caused significant deterioration to the frescoes once the dome was opened. The massive numbers of 20th century visitors just about finished them off. Now they severely limit the numbers by allowing only weekend visits, to preserve what is left.

When Domus was rediscovered at the end of the 15th century in the farmer’s field on the Esquiline hill, artists climbed down ropes into the richly frescoed caves- grotta in Italian. They called the frescoes grottesche, from which we get the word ‘grotesque,’ which we now use to describe something ugly but these frescoes were anything but. The impact on the artists was powerful. You can see it best in Raphael’s work in the Vatican, their influence spreading from there.

Some of the wall frescoes:

Artist's rendition of portion of Domus Aurea complex — Ceiling fresco

There is a slide show during the tour and we managed to get a couple of photos from it:

Walking around the interior can be disappointing as it is dark, there are few frescoes to see and they are not in great shape. However the 3d goggle production, in addition to the slide show and the guide’s comments, make the visit one of the best. The goggles show you the chamber you are in as it was at its peak. You look up, right, left or ahead to see the dazzling white walls and their frescoes, statues and other wonderful decorations. The most stunning moment comes when they virtually take you outdoors, through what is now a filled in opening, but what then was a beautiful terrace with a massive view of the artificial lake, the forum and the Capitoline Hill. From the latter a huge temple overlooked the area, as its ruins still do, below the Roman city senate building, from whence you gaze through the ancient columns over the forum.

For those who are fans of antiquity, or who would like to see what the brouhaha is all about, a visit to the Domus Aurea is a must!

Photos from the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museum, and a bit about the Vatican

July 7, 2024August 6, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

Some background

Small (as in Vatican City) can be beautiful and that the Vaticano is. The Vatican Museums house some $15 billion in art, although some of it is way beyond a monetary evaluation. The popes who built the art collection, as well as the Basilica and the rest, were scoundrels who engaged in deception, fornication, thievery, hypocrisy and much more including the sale of what I call ‘get out of purgatory free’ cards: you contributed in some fashion and in exchange the Church guaranteed you would be more leniently treated by the celestial powers that be. But no one can deny that the legacy they left us is a storehouse of treasure that has enriched the world. As much as I detest those people and hate to admit it, but we are indebted to them, yet own allegiance to their means.

Vatican City is a country officially recognized by treaty between the Vatican and the Italian government since 1929 when Mussolini and the Pope came to an agreement. Before the reunification of Italy in 1861, the Pope ruled much of Italy from the Vatican, but the Risorgimento, as it is called in Italian, reduced the papal state to a mere 44 hectares, and it remains the smallest country in the world both in size and population.

You may have heard the term “The Holy See” and wondered about the meaning. The Holy See governs the religious life of the world’s 1 billion Catholics. It is the arm of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) that has diplomatic relations with other countries, not the Vatican City. It’s an odd arrangement, indeed, but there you have it. Another tidbit- the word ‘see’ in “Holy See”comes from the Latin ‘Sede,’ meaning ‘Seat,’ so has nothing to do with seeing and thus not as presumptuous as it seems.

Many people confuse the Museums (there is just one entrance to all of them) with St Peter’s Basilica. Each has its own entrance- if you standing on line in front of St Peter’s you are not going into the Museums. The Museum is not free except for the first Sunday, while the Basilica is always free, though given the costs involved I would not blame the church if it decided to charge. It’s houses amazing art, including Michelangelo’s Pieta, completed when he was just 23 years old.

There is additional background information following the next section.

About the art of the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel was completed in 1477 by Sixtus IV, for whom the chapel is named. It remains the setting for formal deliberations naming the next pope. Michelangelo, primarily a sculptor, was hired by Julius II to paint the ceiling, which he did from 1508-1512. He started with the center piece, The Creation of Adam shows Yahweh, surrounded by his buddies, injecting life into Adam. Once Michelangelo completed this section he realized the scale was too small, and it would take him too long to finish the immense project. Therefore the remainder of the work is in larger scale. He painted nine scenes in all from Genesis, and also painted the Last Judgment on the sanctuary wall.

Here’s a view of the hall. Photos are not permitted but people manage to take ones anyway. I found this one on the internet, one of the better and more interesting ones. The chapel is hard to photograph well due to its size and the side lighting.

The Creation of Adam, one of the most famous paintings of all time, and the first to be painted in the ceiling project:

This next is one of my favorite paintings in the Chapel. From the far side of the hall his legs appear to be dangling in space.

A little more background

Pope Julius II, aka Giulian della Rovere (1443-1513), aggressively sought to unite Italy, to the point where he led troops in battle on at least two occasions. He engaged in an active building program, most remarkably the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica, and invested heavily in the arts, such as the decoration of the ceiling of the Chapel. His uncle, Pope Sixtus IV, had first made him a cardinal, assuming the position his uncle had vacated to become Pope. Although unmarried Giulian fathered Felice della Rovere in 1483.

He began the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica in 1506, the same year he conceived of the ceiling for which he would hire Michelangelo. Michelangelo was not interested in the project, saying he was a sculptor not a painter, and besides he was already at work on the Pope’s own tomb. The latter project was set aside and remains uncompleted, housed in St Peter in Chains near the Coliseo and Domus Aurea; more about this in a coming article. The Pope prevailed but went to war for the next two years, delaying the ceiling, during which time Michelangelo continued to work on the tomb, giving us what we have today, the Moses in St Peter in Chains, the center piece of the installation in that church.

Michelangelo wanted no restrictions imposed on the project and he was granted complete control. He eventually painted some 300 figures over the course of the four years it took to complete the ceiling. He worked standing, not laying down as most people believe, using wooden scaffolding. The scaffolding was held by brackets extending from openings at the top of the windows, and allowed for work on half of the ceiling at a time. A lightweight screen below to prevent damage to the artwork and flooring below. The openings were employed for the scaffolding used in the recent restoration, which turned a much darkened ceiling into a brightly colored one we see today.

At first he encountered mold problems in the plaster, into which paint was mixed to produce what we call ‘frescoes,’ coming from the Italian for ‘fresh.’ (I often hear Italians using the word ‘fresh’ for ‘cool’ as in ‘temperature.’) An assistant developed a formula that is mold resistant, after the first applications had to be removed. This formula is still in use.

Fresco painters employ a detailed drawing into which small holes are punched to transfer the design to the plaster. Michelangelo, however, drew directly on the plaster. Each day a new section of plaster was laid, the edges of the previous day scraped off, being too dry. As a result you can still see the daily progress of the work.

The final result is greeted by some five million visitors a year, paying about 15 euros each. The Pope’s grandiose plan appears to have paid off, but I yield nothing to his immorality nor the Church of his time.

Rome at night

July 7, 2024August 1, 2017 by Gary Kirkpatrick

These are from the top of Vittorio Emanuele monument in the heart of ancient Rome. The monument is from the late 1800’s, commemorating the unification of Italy, but it is in the heart of things, with the Roman forums to its rear and sides, the historic center where you find the Pantheon, with St Peter’s Basilica in the background– although with my excellent Canon telephoto lens you can get quite close. Photos below the video.