The East · Interviews · Museums · Society · Saint Petersburg

Universal museums in the East and perceptions of the Hermitage in the West

I read Mikhail Piotrovsky's recent interview with the journal International Affairs, and here are some extracts. On the role of the East in the present-day cultural field: «It is no accident that in the world that has now revived and is called the East, universal museums are

Sepia drawing of a priest in a cap sitting at a table with a book in a room with a bed and shelves of vessels.

Faith · Art · London · Museums · Observations

Lorenzo Lotto's drawing of a priest in his chambers, held by the British Museum

A priest in his chambers. The room is very much like mine: five hundred years have passed, yet the furnishings and the mood have survived. Lorenzo Lotto, 1491-1556. British Museum

The East · Art · Museums

Knife with a blue glass handle and an ivory sheath inlaid with precious stones

Ottoman Empire, 18th–19th centuries.

Art · Museums

Study of a Dog (1861–1862 or 1875), Gustave Courbet

Langmatt Museum, Baden

Painting in a gilded frame showing the interior of the Pantheon, with a coffered dome, a round oculus and figures of visitors.

Architecture · Art · Museums · Rome

Painting of the Pantheon interior at the National Gallery of Art in Washington

Giovanni Paolo Panini, Interior of the Pantheon. Washington, National Gallery of Art

NB! · Faith · Art · Madrid · Museums

Detail of the Annunciation (the Madrid version, the best known), painted by Fra Beato Angelico in 1435

Detail of the Annunciation (the Madrid version, the best known), painted by Fra Beato Angelico in 1435. Look at the wing of the Archangel Gabriel and imagine the level of mastery of a Dominican friar of the early fifteenth century

Archaeology · Archive · The East · Interviews · Museums · Saint Petersburg

Curator Natalya Sutyagina on the Noin-Ula finds exhibition at the Hermitage until 29 September

Until 29 September the Hermitage is hosting the exhibition "The Archaeological Phenomenon. Between Past and Future". Today an interview was published with the exhibition's chief curator, Natalia Sutyagina, Senior Researcher in the Hermitage's Department of the East. I decided to highlight the most interesting

In the Press · Books · Moscow · Museums · Heritage

New director Vladimir Tolstoy plans to complete restoration of the Khamovniki estate

In a recent interview with Kommersant, Vladimir Tolstoy, who a month ago took up the post of Director General of the Leo Tolstoy State Museum, spoke of the main tasks awaiting him in his new office. The first item on the new director's list of priorities is to

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums

Five Moscow exhibitions, from the image of the builder to the history of Novodevichy Convent

As every Monday, in the "Where to Go" column I gather for you the main events at Moscow's museums and art galleries. Do hurry! ✔️The exhibition "The Construction of Creativity", tracing the image of the builder from the 1930s to the present day, at

Art · Monarchies · Museums · Paris

Table Made from a Malabar Teak Slice for Louis XVIII at the Grand Trianon

In 1823 Louis XVIII acquired a unique slab of wood: a cross-section of Malabar oak, or teak, almost 3 metres across. The wood of Indian teak, especially from the Malabar Coast, is highly prized for its handsome colouring. But teak usually reaches no more than a metre and a

Art · Madrid · Museums · Society

Spaniard arrested in Madrid over sale of fake portrait of Trivulzio

A Spanish citizen has been arrested in Madrid on suspicion of involvement in a deal to sell a fake Leonardo da Vinci. The fraudster planned to sell in Milan a portrait of the Italian military commander and patron of the arts Gian Giacomo Trivulzio for 1.4 million dollars. The

Art · Books · Museums · People

Bourdelle’s “Hannibal’s First Victory” in Montauban and the Eagle in Flaubert’s “Salammbô”

In French Montauban there is an Ingres-Bourdelle Museum, named for the city's two most famous sons. For a hundred and fifty years the museum bore only the name of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, whose collection formed the basis of its holdings; now Bourdelle, the second distinguished native