Pushkin Museum

This work focuses on calligrapher Takayasu Rōoku (years of life are unknown), who lived and worked in Osaka in the second half of the 18th century. The life and work of Takayasu Rōoku deserve attention because it was him who complied one of the most popular encyclopedias of his time, Tokai Setsuyō Hyakkatsū (Complete Compendium of Urban Knowledge, Osaka, 1801), which went through several editions during the 19th century and affected the worldview of city dwellers of that time. Based on the evidence from contemporaries and the analysis of books on which Rōoku worked, this work describes his social circle, interests, lifestyle, and his main areas of work.

The publication introduces into scholarly circulation the correspondence of prominent Pushkinists Mikhail Dementiev and Irina Obodovskaya, kept at the Alexander Pushkin State Museum. The central place in the correspondence is dedicated to the discussion of various ways to translate Alexander Pushkin’s letter to his brother-in-law Dmitry Goncharov. The letter which M. Dementiev and I. Obodovskaya found in Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts in 1970 was the result of their many years study of the Goncharov’s archive. The discovery of Pushkin’s genuine letter in the second half of the 20th century was a very important event: 4 pages of Pushkin’s text testify to the extremely difficult financial situation of the poet, in connection with which he was forced to turn to his brother-in-law with a request to borrow 6 thousand rubles for 6 months. This letter contains a constant theme of his correspondence in the 1830s: concern about the growing family, about the future of his children, about the impossibility to dedicate himself completely to poetry and writing and to make a living by literary works. The Pushkinists announced their discovery at the academic event held at the Alexander Pushkin State Museum. The publication presents memories of this evening, preserved by Alexander Krein, the first director of the museum. The article also observes other archival findings of M. Dementiev and I. Obodovskaya. M. Dementiev’s memoirs describing his meetings with an imminent literary and textual critic Tatiana Tsiavlovskaya are published for the first time.

Russia holds the first largest collection of canvas by great Spanish masters outside of Spain, including paintings by El Greco, Murillo, Ribera, Zurbaran, Goya, and others. In November 2023 the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts presents an exhibition of Spanish paintings from its own collections, as well as the works of art from the Hermitage and regional museums. In this interview, Svetlana Zagorskaya, curator of Spanish painting at the Pushkin Museum, talks about the collections of Spanish painting in Russia, the history of their acquisition and meticulous work of attributing paintings. Particular attention is paid to Svetlana Zagorskaya’s discoveries of the authorship of the canvas by Jusepe de Ribera «Saint James the Greater» and the painting by Bartolomeo Murillo «Saint Catherine of Alexandria», which open the exposition of old masters in the main building of the Museum. The purpose of the upcoming exhibition, apart from being educational, is to show the cultural attraction of Spain and Russia, two countries at the extreme ends of Europe. Since the end of the 19th century many Russian artists visited Spain and looked for new motives for inspiration, at the same time Russian collectors bought a lot of works by Spanish artists. Thus, an invisible but strong cultural bridge was being built between the two countries, and it still exists in our time.

The paper gives the typology of the serpent-like monster images in the art of Western Asia of 3rd — first half 1st millennia BC. We’ve studied 14 such images, beginning with the Early Dynastic seals and ending with the Neo-Babylonian amulet, by comparison of 10 parameters, and established four main types of similar monsters: 7-headed, 2-headed with 2 paws, 1-headed with 2 paws and 1-headed legless one. 7- and 1-headed monsters are typical for Mesopotamian tradition, whereas 2-headed for (Eastern) Anatolian one. The Mesopotamian monsters could get two forelegs thanks to the interactions between these traditions that opens new horizons for studying the cultural interaction between Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.

В статье рассмотрены интерпретации натуроподобного стиля японской буддийской скульптуры эпохи Камакура (1185–1333). У Н. А. Виноградовой и Ю. Л. Кужеля этот стиль понимается, в частности, как свидетельство обмирщения буддийского искусства. Как я указываю, этому противоречит развитие и распространение таких практик, как помещение сакральных объектов внутрь статуй или создание «голых» изображений. Затронув причины появления и устойчивости таких интерпретаций, я обращаюсь к концепциям, которые, на мой взгляд, скорее могут помочь нам понять натуроподобный стиль камакурской скульптуры. В относительно недавних исследованиях англоязычных авторов применительно к буддийской скульптуре в целом применяется термин «живые образы», что отражает не только восприятие культовых икон на популярном уровне, но и понимание материального мира и статуй в частности на доктринальном уровне. Опираясь на русско- и англоязычные исследования, я привожу основные идеи и теории, касающиеся этих тем и распространившиеся в Японии в период Камакура. Для этого периода термин «живые» по отношению к статуям оказывается особенно актуальным — согласно японским исследователям, именно в это время распространяется вера в статуи как в живых будд (сё:дзин буцу) и именно с этой верой связывают натуроподобные элементы внешнего облика статуй и тщательную проработку их внутреннего пространства. На примере статуи Вайрочаны (Дайнити-нёрай) мастера Ункэя я подробно разбираю, как могут быть организованы «внутренности» статуи эпохи Камакура. Таким образом, я предлагаю уйти от трактовки стиля скульптуры эпохи Камакура как свидетельства обмирщения и рассматривать характерные особенности этой скульптуры в контексте веры в статуи как в живых будд.

The article examines eight ancient Egyptian terracotta figurines of the Graeco-Roman Period, stored in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts; three of them have not been published before. Five objects were acquired by V.S. Golenischev in Egypt, three come from other sources. The figurines are united by a common style – they were made in the form of the ancient Egyptian god Bes, standing in a tense pose with his hands on knees and, apparently, symbolizing a willingness to fight against malign forces. Most of the figurines belong to the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods, but one item should be dated earlier – to the 5th–4th centuries BC. God Bes was considered a protector in the most dangerous and critical life periods (childbirth, sleep, illness, death) and therefore gained wide popularity in Egypt. Probably, in relation to the family, Bes played the same role as the Lares in Ancient Rome, who protected the home, hearth and family. If the ancient Egyptian goddesses, for example, Isis and Taurt, contributed to female fertility and the birth of healthy offspring, then the function of Bes was broader – to guarantee effective protection of everything related to the female sphere (fertility, conception, pregnancy and childbirth). Bes is inextricably linked with the child god Horus / Harpocrates and guarded babies and children from numerous visible and invisible dangers – from evil spirits and diseases to snake and scorpion bites. Due to their apotropaic properties, Bes images become a popular symbol on various household items; in various forms, images of Bes adorned a special part of the house – the bedroom. Figurines of Bes prevail in the home context; however they are also found in burials, and associated with ability of Bes to guard the “sleep” of the deceased.

INTRODUCTION: Medical staff limits often the presence of parents in ICU with their children, citing the fact that parents can bring serious difficulties to the work of the department. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate social and psycho-emotional aspects of joint stay of a family member (parents) with a patient (child) in ICU from the viewpoint of the medical stuff. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included hospitals, which followed the principles of a family centered care (FCC) approach in the treatment of patients (median and quartiles years — 4.00 (2.00; 10.00)). The 417 questionnaires were analyzed. The data were subjected to descriptive analysis. RESULTS: Respondents assessed the working conditions and the level of their wages not higher than satisfactory in more than 30 % of the answers. In the spectrum of assistance provided by family members to a patient in the ICU, the medical staff indicated 89 % and 91.5 % respectively sanitary and hygienic care, 82 % and 81.9 % — feeding him, 32 % and 47.1 % — assistance in transportation patient. The first level of preparation of parents for caring for a patient in the ICU was 3 (2; 3) — doctors and 3 (2; 3) — nurses, and when the patient was transferred from the ICU — 4 (3; 4) and 3 (3; 4) respectively. Claims in the opinion of the medical staff from patients and parents were due to their underestimation of the complexity of the situation with the patient (58 % and 48.6 %), the characteristics of patients (33 % and 36.3 %) and their parents (48 % and 39.8 %), insufficient awareness of the patientʼs health status (nurses — 23.2 %). CONCLUSIONS: The FCC in the ICU does not introduce significant psycho-emotional and labor loads in the professional activities of medical staff and creates positive conditions for increasing the level of knowledge and skills of parents in caring for their children.

Mummification is one of the defining customs of ancient Egypt. The nuances of the embalming procedure and the composition of the embalming mixtures have attracted the attention of scientists and laypeople for a long time. Modern analytical tools make mummy studies more efficient. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GCxGC/HRMS) with complementary ionization methods (electron ionization, positive chemical ionization, and electron capture negative ionization [ECNI]) with a Pegasus GC-HRT+4D instrument was used to identify embalming components in the mummy from the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts acquired in 1913 in London at the de Rustafjaell sale. The mummy dates back to the late Predynastic period (direct accelerator mass spectrometry-dating 3356-3098 bc), being one of the oldest in the world. The results showed the complexity of the embalming mixtures that were already in use 5000 years ago. Several hundred organic compounds were identified in the mummy samples. Various types of hydrocarbons (triterpanes, steranes, isoprenoid, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) prove the presence of petroleum products. Iodinated compounds detected using ECNI define oils of marine origin, whereas esters of palmitic acid indicate the use of beeswax. The nature of the discovered components of conifer tar proves that the preliminary processing of conifer resins involved heating. GCxGC/HRMS also allowed a number of modern contaminants (phthalates, organophosphates, and even DDT) to be identified. Application of a powerful GCxGC/HRMS technique with complementary ionization methods allowed significant widening of the range of organic compounds used for mummification that could be identified. The complexity of the embalming mixtures supports the hypothesis of the high social status of the child made on the basis of the preliminary study of the mummy.