Боги в облаках: «эстетика картины» и балет екатерининской эпохи

ABSTRACTThe State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg houses a group of small silver and silver-gilt vessels, thought to have been made in Byzantium and dated to the twelfth century. The vessels are decorated with engraved and relief images that predominantly, but not exclusively, refer to the world of secular entertainments: a small vessel from Berezov bears around one hundred tightly stacked, small-scale images that show dancers, musicians, animals, and hybrids, whilst its inside displays a portrait of the warrior saint, St George; a shallow vessel from Vilgort is decorated with images of animals and hunting scenes on its outside, and on its inside bears a central roundel showing a couple surrounded by animals; and a bowl formerly in the collection of the Russian émigré Alexander Basilevsky shows twelve individual figures under arches, including dancers and musicians, on its outside and a pair of griffins on its inside. These three dishes, which will form the focus of this article, and their variegated images confront the viewer (and scholar) with a problem: how should the complex and often ambiguous imagery of the precious metal dishes be interpreted? Is a single, coherent meaning intended by their decoration, or is the latter a jumble of meaningless scenery? The clue to their interpretation can be found, as will be argued, in contemporary rhetorical strategies and performances. Riddles and ‘double-tonguedness’ prominently featured in twelfth-century rhetorical performances and works, and even, this is suggested, in material culture. Studying visual and rhetorical displays together can illuminate not only the interpretation of individual artworks, but also the broader relationship in medieval Byzantium between rhetoric and the visual arts.

This article provides a genealogical critique of the history and modernity of dance. In doing so it establishes the political importance of dance as an art not principally of the body and its biopolitical capacities for movement, but of images and imagination. It traces the development of dance as an art of imagination, lost and buried in the works of Domenico da Piacenza, Jean-Georges Noverre, and Loïe Fuller, as well as its counter-movement expressed in the work of Rudolf Laban. It also locates contemporary dance within this political conflict by exploring new works, especially those of Ivana Müller, which call upon beholders to use their imaginations through the evocation of histories and memories. Such works can be understood to be deeply political, it will argue, because they work to transform society by creating time for a belief in the impossible. At its best, dance does not simply incite bodies to move but suspends movement, transforming the very image of what a body is capable of. These aims and practices of dance speak to contemporary concerns within political practice, theory, and philosophy for a reawakening of political imagination in times of crisis and neoliberal hegemony.

This title is a catalogue of Islamic works of art on display in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and the Khalili Collection in London, supported by authoritative essays by distinguished Islamic scholars.

The paper gives the review of epistolary materials for the biography of two archaeologists — Dr. Anastasia Mantsevych from Leningrad (1899—1982) and Dr. Maria Viazmitina from Kyiv (1896—1994). The documents are retained in Maria Viazmitina’s personal fund (N 34) in the Scientific Archive of the Institute of Archaeology of NASU. Among 126 letters from A. Mantsevych to M. Viazmitina 43 are selected for fragmentary publishing. These letters show us the personality of Anastasiia Mantsevych during the time period from 1952 to 1982. Letters demonstrate what thoughts, ideas and reflections stayed behind her published papers, behind her confidence at the scientific conferences during public polemics. Letters discover a strong individual and a sensitive human being at the same time, making essential addition to her scientific portrait. Through the letters the article also gives a review of scientific life in the State Hermitage Museum (Leningrad) and in the Institute of Archaeology (Kyiv). Correspondents point and discuss the significant museum exhibitions and sensational archaeological discoveries, share their plans about visiting main scientific conferences and congresses. Among the discussed topics are «Treasures of Tutankhamun tomb» in Leningrad (1974) and in Kyiv (1975); exhibition exchange between British Museum and State Hermitage in 1979 («The Siberian Collection of Peter I» and «The Oxus treasure»); Dr. Yuri Boltryk’s excavations of Oguz tomb in 1980, Borys Mozolevski’s and Halyna Kovpanenko’s findings of that period, Oleksandr Leskov’s findings in the tombs of the North Caucasus. There are also reflections about Professor Manolis Andronikos’ findings — the tomb of Macedonian kings near Vergina settlement in Northern Greece and Viktor Sarianidi’s findings of «Bactrian Gold» in Afghanistan.

On Iranian Diplomatic Gifts and Trophies of the 1820s in the State Hermitage Museum:

The article analyses the modern artistic process that began in the middle of the 20th century within the framework of the "craft + art" concept on the example of glassworks. The author covers two periods in the development of Murano glass. The first period is associated with the names of O.Kokoschka, P.Picasso, M.Chagall, M.Ernst, Le Corbusier, A.Calder, F.Leger, L.Fontana, H.Arp, G.Braque. At that time, an attempt to master the new plastic language of modern art space was undertaken by E.Costantini, the founder of one of the Venetian glass workshops. In the late 1940s, Costantini formulated the concept of joining a new artistic idea and technology, refined over the centuries, in Venetian glass. The new image of Murano glass of the late 20th - early 21st century is associated with the Berengo Studio, founded by Adriano Berengo in 1989. He practically adopted Costantini’s concept and invited outstanding contemporary artists: Ai Weiwei, Thomas Schütte, Jaume Plensa, the Kabakovs, Cesar, and others to work in the Murano workshops. The author analyses the “glass as an object of high art” concept on the example of the Glasstress. A Window to the Future exhibition, held at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The author believes that some artists formally exploit Venetian glass technologies and a high presentation platform, presenting works devoid of artistic significance. In this regard, the author draws on the philosophical concepts of mimicry and mimesis, believing that mimicry, in this case, is aimed at the space of high art. It reflects innovations in the artistic image and the search for a new creative method associated with the use of new material. In turn, the author believes that in the same context, a number of works can be described as mimesis - a kind of pretence, a certain result of imitation without artistic transformation.

Processing technology for the objects of mobile art in the Upper Paleolithic of Siberia (the Malta site)

Amongst the more than four thousand drawings of the collection of Count Charles Cobenzl, formed in Brussels between 1761 and 1768 and today mostly in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, are a number of small sheets kept under the name of Abraham van Diepenbeeck. The author clarifies their relationship to his oeuvre, identifying them as designs by different artists for in-text illustrations in books published in Antwerp in the second quarter of the seventeenth century. The history of these drawings, some of which were formerly in the celebrated drawings collection of the banker Pierre Crozat in Paris, throws light on the circulation of drawings in the eighteenth century. Moreover, it provides the first indications of the composition of the drawings collection of Francois-Ernest de Salm Reifferscheid, Bishop of Tournai, of which little was previously known.

The article is considering the collection of 200 fragments of fresco plaster from the 1960–1962 excavations of the 12th century “nobleman’s house” (“povalusha”) in Novogrudok, kept in the State Hermitage museum and in the National Historical museum of Belarus. These fragments present the unique Old Rus’ ensemble of the fresco painting on plaster (lime and crushed brick), which covered the secular wooden building.The study made by the author of the excavations (Frida Gurevich), and the reconstruction of the system of the paintings (Yury Spegal’sky) has been adjusted on the base of the collection and field documentation. The overallsquare of the fragments is less than 1.5 m2. It is stated that only a small part of the hut was covered by fresco plaster, including the zone of the window or the door opening since a dozen fragments have the 45 degrees angle between the surfaces. The main color of the background was red, limited by the ornamental stripes of the kymation, which differ in their shape, scale, and color. The unique figurative fresco fragment depicts a man’s head, presumably a musician, who was the part of a secular scene. The paintings were accompanied by the oneline inscription.

The paper focuses on the research of remodeled decorative elements of the Church of the Sts. Boris and Gleb in Novogrudok. The research was based on the eld documentation revived and published 50 years after the archaeological excavations of the monument, as well as on the analysis of the archaeological collections of the building materials kept in Novgorod museum and the State Hermitage museum. Special features of the facades decor and glazed tiles floor pavement were also considered with the closest analogs pointed out in Polotsk and Grodno.

The Sabouroff collection was formed in Greece by Pyotr A. Sabouroff (1835–1918), Russian diplomat and statesman, between 1870 and 1879, after which it was purchased by the Imperial Hermitage in 1884. This new and updated catalogue of the Sabouroff collection includes a reconstruction of the events accompanying the purchase of this collection based on documents in the Archives of The State Hermitage Museum. In addition, detailed reports of modern methods of analyses are taken into account that have been utilized for a complete reassessment of the Sabouroff collection for its full publication.

My pedagogic work as a porcelain painting teacher brought to my attention the problems of connecting two-dimensional painting or decor with three-dimensional shape. This paper presents my research on the contradictions between porcelain decor and shape and provides insight into shape construction of objects and, consequently, shape designer’s contribution to tableware design. Understanding of tableware shape structure is equally helpful for the artists creating decoration designs and for the museum researchers describing collection items. By selecting and analyzing the images of porcelain decoration of different time periods, the basic principles of pattern organizing and decoration layout that follows shape design can be determined. The study used qualitative and selective methods of research, including visual material selection and interpretation. The visual material for the analyses was collected in The Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation, Riga Porcelain Museum, The Art Museum Riga Bourse, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Sèvres Ceramics Museum in Paris, The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Herend Porcelain Museum in Hungary and Augarten Porcelain Museum in Vienna.

The paper sets out results of archaeological excavations in the Paikend (Paykand) city-site located in the south-west of Bukhara oasis (Uzbekistan) and abandoned in the Middle Ages owing to the lack of water in the lower reaches of the Zeravshan River. Paikend was situated at a distance of two caravan day trips from Amul-Farab, the crossing point on the Amu Darya River. Ancient trade routes, coming from China, the Near East, Eastern Europe and India met in this area. Paikend is mentioned by Chinese, Arabian and Persian authors. They reported that it was older than Bukhara, had one of the first Zoroastrian fire temples, and was named “Brazen city” because of powerful fortress walls. Due to its wealth and active involvement in the international trade it was also called “The City of Merchants”. The first archaeological research at the site was carried out in 1913–1914, then in 1939–1940. Systematic excavations started in 1981 with the works of the Bukhara Archaeological Expedition, jointly organized by the State Hermitage Museum and the Institute of Archeology of Uzbekistan. All constituent parts of the medieval Paikend were subjected in the research: Fortifications, the citadel (with ancient fire temple and mosque), residential quarters in both shahrestans, a bazar at the southern city gate, street networks, water supply and wastewater disposal systems, two suburbs with huge structures (caravanserais in the initial phase), and other objects. 2011 saw the start of exploration program, aiming at the study of the city-site’s early stages. It produced new results, helping to understand the history of Bukhara oasis (Western Sogdiana) as a whole, from the Hellenistic period till the Hephthalites time (the end of the 4th c. BC — 6th c. AD).

The paper examines the “Andy Warhol” Millennium Show exhibited at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg in 2000 and at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow in 2001. It first discusses why the U.S. government organized this show as part of America’s millennium celebrations abroad and why it chose Andy Warhol as America’s millennium artist. It then proceeds with explaining the political and art historical contents of the show, as well as its public reception by both the Russian media and the Russian artworld. The paper concludes that the “Andy Warhol” Millennium Show, despite its direct interrelatedness with the symbolic diplomatic ceremonial of millennium celebrations, was a groundbreaking cultural event, as it managed to familiarize the Russian public with key works of American Pop Art and with this build a “cultural” bridge between the U.S. and Russia in the post-Cold-War era.

Over the past five years, interest in digital libraries and in the World Wide Web have both greatly increased as the result of a symbiotic relationship. For an even longer period, my IBM colleagues and I have been developing online digital libraries for cultural institutions. In this article, selected aspects of projects with the Vatican Library, the National Gallery of Art (United States), the Klau Library of Hebrew Union College, and Russia's State Hermitage Museum are reported. In these projects, both technical and institutional challenges were met. Three technical challenges are discussed: protecting the intellectual property rights of institutions to their online materials; producing high-quality images with data sizes that are suitable for Internet delivery; and achieving significant capture throughput. Finally, some opinions are offered on the outlook for digital libraries of cultural content.