Big Throne Hall of St. Jorge

The rich decoration and solemnity of the interior are in accordance with its role as a place for official receptions and various state occasions. The colors’ scheme consists of two shades of white, which is Italian marble and gold. The Italian marble was brought to Russia by 8 ships. The marble columns support the gallery which goes around the perimeter of hall interrupted only in the center. There’s a large bas-relief of St. Jorge killing the dragon. St. Jorge was considered as the patron saint of Russian warriors. The patron on the ceiling made of gilded bronze mirrors the designed of the inlaid parquet floor made of 16 kinds of wood. The vases are made of malachite and lapis lazuli. There are French, German, Flemish tapestries of XVI-XVIII centuries on display.

We have left Winter Palace and now we’re in Small Hermitage (Vallin de la Moth - 1764). There was the place purchased by Catherine II. Originally there were several small parlors where Catherine the Great, courtiers and friends have parties. Objects of art added the other pleasures for those who to part at those parties. From the windows we can see the hanging garden. Such gardens were placed so it was possible to bring soil 2 meters deep and planted flowers, shrubs and even trees. In winter snow hills were arranged for tobogganing and in summer birds and squirrels were let out of the cages to provide entertainment. In the middle of XVII century the interior was changed by Stakenschneider. There’s a peacock clock on the display. It was made by English master James Cox. Court Potemkin brought the clock to Russia and presented it to Catherine II. The mechanism of the clock is hidden in the “ground”. The mushroom serves as the face of the clock. There’s a slot on its cap where figures are showing out. When the clock strikes all the animals are set in a motion. The peacock spreads tail and rotates its head and rooster cries. Also we can see in this hall the fountain of tears. There’s a beautiful legend. When Chieftain Girey went to the west. He saw Maria and felt in love. It was wedding. Chieftain killed the boy and sent Maria to harem. Maria was kept in his place. Zarina was his favorite wife and she was very jealous. Zarina offered Maria to escape but Maria didn’t understand language and said “no”. Zarina stabbed the girl. Chieftain was deeply in grief. He decided to build a fountain of tears where the drops of water were falling from one shell to another. The mosaic floor was made in the middle of the XIX century by the group of graduates of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts, who was sent to Rome to copy mosaic, found in the XVIII century during excavation of Roman bath of Emperor Titus. It’s a half of original size. This hall accommodates the exhibition of Roman and Florentine mosaic. Roman mosaic is tiny pieces of colored glass of regular shape that were put together so skillfully that it produces the impression of the painting. Florentine mosaic mean that different kinds of semiprecious stones ofnatural colors and irregular shape were put together. Some times they were additions of mother-of-pearl and ivory. Council staircase

This is malachite vase made by Russian mosaic. Russian mosaic is the style of mosaic designed by Russian craftsmen. This vase isn’t monolithic. Tiny pieces of malachite or other semiprecious stones were placed on (stick to) metal or stone foundation. The malachite came from Ural Mountains, which separate European and Asian parts of Russia.

Морозов, Щукин. Trophy Art

The term “the Second World War” is seldom used in Russian publications. It’s referred to instead as Great Patriotic War. In the last months of the war and the first years of peace the Russian army removed more than 2 million works of art from Germany to Russia. There were the finest museum masterpieces, crates loads of secondary exhibits and private collections. Most of the art from East Germany and Poland was returned in the 1950th as the fraternal gesture but the rest of art works remained hidden in Russian museums. In 1991 the presence of trophy art in Russia was admitted. In 1995 the Hermitage set up the exhibition, which numbered 74 impressionist and post-impressionist paintings from German private collection titled “Hidden treasures”. The event attracted massive press coverage. Visitors came from all over the world. The museum extended the closing date of the exhibition twice and then they decided to have a permanent display of the pictures. Roughly about 85% of the paintings came from the collection of Otto Kreps who had stored the paintings, oriental art and antiquities in a specially equipped room in the cellar of his country residence. His house was occupied by the Americans and then by the Russians. Neither noticed the iron door in the cellar. Only in 1984 a German art historian told the soviet authorities that an art collection was secretly stored in the basement of the castle. There were paintings by Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin, van Gogh, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse, Paul Signac. In 1992 Eltsin and Koll reaffirmed the treaty which had been signed 2 years before. It included an article stating that “lost or unlawfully transferred art treasures which are located in the government’s territories will be returned to their owners or the owners’ successors”. The Russians contend that the transfer of German art to Russia was conducted within the framework of Russian law and was thus perfectly lawful. There was an idea to compile a list of art works equivalent to those stolen or destroyed by the Nazi. The historic palaces of Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof had been reduced to ruins by the German invaders. Same as the churches of Novgorod and Pskov the major city of the Ukraine and Belorussia had been devastated. The total value of equivalence was calculated at $70,5 billion. Stalin won the allies approval for a 10 billion-compensation scheme. It is a curious twist of fate that Moscow should have supplied the Hermitage with the paintings for which it is now best known abroad: the superb impressionist’s and post-impressionist’s works from the collections of Sergey Shchukin and Ivan Morozoff. The 2 men were Moscow merchants and their collections formed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries were confiscated after the revolution. Initially their large homes in Moscow were opened to the public as museums. Then in 1927-28 the paintings were combined in the Morozoff’s home, which was called “the museum of modern western art”. In 1930th the Hermitage got its first installment of pictures from Moscow. The rest came in 1948. The Hermitage got among others most of the Picasso’s and the best of the Matisse’s. The Hermitage got around 300 paintings of French

impressionists. Some were exhibited in the 1930th but most of them could not be displayed up to 1956 because modern western art was branded decadent. Now these paintings are on display in the former quarters of the ladies in waiting. It was no coincidence that these notable collections of avant-garde were formed in Moscow rather than St Petersburg. Moscow was the base of the new merchant class always revolved around the court. It was a period in which traditional differences between the 2 cities were especially highlighted. New merchant families, entrepreneurs found in Moscow a more convenient trading center than St Petersburg and Moscow became the setting for a flowering of the arts. Morozoff and Shchukin made their own contribution to this environment. They recognized the importance of the French avant-garde art ahead of their contemporaries and were buying in bulk. They started collecting the French impressionists well before most Europeans had recognized these artists’ significance. This meant that they had first choice. Shchukin’s collection of Picasso’s (over 50 pieces) is now recognized as the most important holding anywhere in the world. Morozoff was not only buying but he also commissioned decorations for his Moscow mansion. Maurisse Denis arrived to Moscow to hang pictures in 1909. In 1911 Bonnard was commissioned by Morozoff to execute a series of decoration for the grand staircase. These murals are entitled “On the Mediterranean”. The difference between Morozoff and Shchukin as patrons of contemporary art is clearly seen in the paintings that the 2 men commissioned to greet their guests at the top of the formal entrance staircase. Shchukin commissioned 2 vast canvases from Matisse titled “Music” and “Dance”. They are not pretty easy works like Bonnard’s “Mediterranean”. Matisse used simplified figures to make abstract patterns of color. These 2 paintings “look forward” towards purely abstract art. Shchukin patronized the most important new developments in art even if it meant buying art that was ahead of his own (and everybody else’s) taste. First Shchukin left the interior decoration of the palace to his wife and never interfered with furnishings but later he began to claim the walls. He had begun by buying for amusement to decorate his walls. Then the idea began to take shape of bringing to Moscow the most important modern art of the French school. By 1907 the collector knew that he was creating a gallery of modern art for the instruction and enjoyment.

Sergey Shchukin’s buying can be divided into 3 major periods:

1898-1904 – he pursued impressionism, mostly Claude Monet.

1904-1910 – he was mainly interested in post-impressionism.

1910-1914 – he was almost exclusively concerned with Matisse, Derain and Picasso

Shchukin bought his first Matisse in 1905 but a few months after his visit to Sinai he commissioned Matisse to paint a large canvas for his room where there already were 16 paintings by Gauguin. Shchukin ended up owning 13 paintings by Monet, 37 Matisse’s, 5 Degas’s, 16 Derain’s, 9 Marquet’s, 4 Van Gogh’s, 4 Cezanne’s and 50 Picasso’s. From 1909 onwards he opened his house to the public every Sunday. Teachers from the Academy accused Shchukin of corrupting young artists including Kondinsky and Malevich. After the October revolution both Morozoff and Shchukin left from Russia abroad where they died. Nowadays Shchukin’s and Morozoff’s paintings travel the world gracing the exhibitions in Europe, America, Japan.

Trophy art

The term “the Second World War” is seldom used in Russian publications. It’s referred to instead as Great Patriotic War. Over 20 million soviet citizens died in that war and this means that most Russian families lost a relation or a friend. None of these has been forgotten in Russia. And if the nations attitude to returning the remaining art were tested by referendum the answer would be “no”. The memory of the war is still too vividly alive. In the last months of the war and the first years of peace the Russian army removed more than 2 million works of art from Germany and sent them by air and train to Russia (to Pushkin museum and the Hermitage). There were the finest museum masterpieces, crate loads of secondary exhibits and private collections. Most of the art from East Germany and Poland was returned in the 1950th as the fraternal gesture but the rest of art works remained hidden in Russian museums. In 1991 the presence of trophy art in Russia was admitted. In 1994 it was admitted that Shliemann was in Moscow. It’s a famous golden jewellry found at the site of ancient Troy by the archeologist Henry Shliemann in 1873. He donated his finds to the German nation. The exhibition of Trojan gold was set up by the Pushkin museum in Moscow in 1996. In 1995 the Hermitage set up the exhibition, which numbered 74 impressionist and post-impressionist paintings from German private collection titled “Hidden treasures”. The event attracted massive press coverage. Visitors came from all over the world. The museum extended the closing date of the exhibition twice and then they decided to have a permanent display of the pictures. The revelation of the secret stores was one of the major art sensations of the 1990th. Then the question rose whether all or some of the pieces should be given back to their former owners. Roughly about 85% of the paintings came from the collection of Otto Kreps (German industrialist) who had stored the paintings, oriental art and antiquities in a specially equipped room in the cellar of a country residence. In 1981 he died of cancer. He left all his property to a cancer research foundation. His housewas occupied by theAmericans and then by Russians. Neither noticed the iron door in the cellar. Only in 1984 a German art historian told the soviet authorities that an art collection was secretly stored in the basement of the castle. There were paintings by Monet, works by Renoir, Pissarro, Gauguin, van Gogh, Cezanne, Tuluz Votrek, Picasso, Matisse, Paul Signac. There are also objects of art from the collection of Bernard Kollner also an industrialist. His descendents have commissioned Sotheby to try to return the pictures. The representatives of cancer research foundation have done the same. The research foundation commission to handle the associations for them. In 1992 Eltsin and Koll reaffirmed the treaty which had been signed 2 years before. It included an article stating that “lost or unlawfully transferred art treasures which are located in the government’s territories will be returned to their owners or the owners’ successors”. The Russians content that the transfer of German art to Russia was conducted within the framework of Russian law and was thus perfectly lawful. At present the contents of various storerooms at the Hermitage wait for the politicians to determine their fate. There are ceramics and bronzes, gold and jewellry, Japanese swords, Chinese lacquer boxes and other oriental material from a museum in Berlin, a large quantity of European silver, old masters from the museums in Berlin and Potsdam, one of the oldest and finest stained glass windows from Frankfurt am Oder. The ultimate fate is likely to depend on the international politics. This is not a story of looting. The removal of art works was ordered by the Central Committee of the Communist’s Party of the Soviet Union. It was organized by art historians and art professionals who were given a temporary military rank and dressed up in uniform. A train full of treasures from Berlin arrived at the Hermitage in October 1945. 6 days after the museums evacuated collection came back from Sverdlovsk. The arrival of the treasure train from Berlin went unremarked. There was an idea to compile a list of art works equivalent to those stolen or destroyed by the Nazi. The historic palaces Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof had been reduced to ruins by the German invaders. Same as the churches of Novgorod and Pskov the major city of the Ukraine and Belorussia had been devastated. The total value of equivalence was calculated at 70587000. Stalin won the allies approval for a 10 billion-compensation scheme. Most of the decisions on the removal of items were signed by Stalin.

Cottage Palace

The palace and park complex of Alexandria created at Peterhof in the secondquarter of the nineteenth century by eminent Western European and Russian masters is unique both as regards its eventful history and an extraordinary wealth of its architectural and artistic decoration. The landscape park of Alexandria, located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland to the east of the Lower Park, occupies an area of 115 hectares. In the eighteenth century these lands belonged to Peter the Great's closest associates including Prince Alexander Menshikov and later the Princes Dolgoruky. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna the area was employed as the royal Jagdgarten or hunting ground, with stables, kennels and enclosures for beasts brought from all the ends of Russia and from abroad. In the second half of the eighteenth century the territory of the park ceased to be used for hunting. Only deer who quickly became accustomed to men survived there and the locality became known as the "Deer Bestiary". In 1825 Emperor Alexander I presented this tract of land to his younger brother, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, for building a house for summer rest. The next year, on becoming the Emperor of Russia, Nicholas I issued a decree "to build on the site of Menshikov's ruin a country house or cottage, with all auxiliary services and with a park". Nicholas I presented the area of the former Hunting Park to his wife, the Prussian Princess Charlotte (daughter of the Prussian King Frederick William III and Queen Louisa) who was named Alexandra Feodorovna after her conversion to the Orthodox Church and marriage. The park was called "Alexandria" in her honour. Alexandria was created under the supervision of the architects Adam Menelaws, Joseph Charlemagne, Andrei Stakenschneider and Eduard Gahn, the master gardeners Friedrich Wendelsdorf and Peter Ehrler. To make the territory more picturesque, extensive earthworks were undertaken. A great variety of trees and bushes were brought from the Botanical and Tauride Gardens in St Petersburg, from Moscow, Marseilles and Hamburg. They were skillfully arranged in matching decorative groups. The shadowy groves and sunlit glades, hills and smooth ponds, mysterious thickets, a network of roads and paths, suddenly opening vistas of the sea, the ruins of old structures, small bridges, summerhouses and benches - all this turned Alexandria into a magnificent park reminiscent of the age of Romanticism. The central axis of Alexandria is the straight Nikolskaya (Nicholas) Avenue which transverses the park from west to east and divides it into a seashore section and an elevated part. The basic architectural structures of the park occupy the upper terrace. In its eastern part stands the central edifice, the so-called Cottage Palace put up in 1826-29 by Adam Menelaws. The English name of the palace unusual for the Russian ear, its location in a remote

corner of the park, its small dimensions as well as the features of its architectural design and inner decor testify to the new function of the building - this is a place ofprivate habitation rather than a formal state residence. After the construction had been completed, Nicholas I presented the Cottage to Alexandra Feodorovna and therefore the estate received the name of "Her Majesty's Own Dacha Alexandria". Only the closest associates of the Imperial family, their teachers, doctors and attendants on duty were admitted to these private royal premises. But once a year, on 2 July (14 July Old Style), the day after the Empress's birthday, when the celebration was still under way, everybody was allowed to come to Alexandria. The architectural and decorative design of the Cottage Palace was carried out in the English Gothic manner imitating the medieval European traditions and known as the Neo- or Pseudo-Gothic style. The Cottage is a compact, clearly designed two-storey building with a mezzanine. All its fronts have a three-partite articulation. There are elements protruding from the walls - the semicircle granite porch, covered balconies, terraces and bay windows. The palace is surrounded on all sides with openwork cast-iron arcades - Adam Menelaws was the first to use cast iron as a structural and decorative material in the design of the facades on such a large scale. The decoration of the interiors of the Cottage was entrusted to the best Russian and Western European masters. Sketches of the famous decorator Giovanni Scotti were used in 1828 to embellish the State Staircase, the ceiling of the Large Study, the Maritime Study and the walls of the Vestibule. The artist Vasily Dodonov adorned the ceiling borders on the first floor and the mezzanine rooms "in the Gothic taste". Adam Menelaws created ornamental compositions of the ceilings reproducing the rosette window patterns of Gothic cathedrals and the motifs of richly developed Gothic rosettes and grilles. The stucco work of the friezes and cornices in the form of vines, oak twigs and arcature fillets, the coat of arms of Alexandria and wrought-iron elements on the facades and in the interiors were executed from models by Mikhail Sokolov. The window and door surrounds in oak and ash carved with alternating garlands of flowers, fruit and leaves were produced by the artist V. Zakharov in 1828-29. The seven fireplaces of white Carrara, yellow Sienese and green Genoese marble as well as the marble floors of the Vestibule and State Staircase were made by the Italian sculptors of the Triscorni family in their St Petersburg workshop. The parquet floors with a simple yet elegant geometric patterns were produced by the well-known master craftsmen A. Tarasov and M. Znamensky. The articles of china, glass and bronze, pieces of furniture and numerous everyday objects were fashioned in the Gothic style. The collections of painting and sculpture consisted of works by outstanding Russian and Western European artists of the first half of the nineteenth century.