Wednesday, November 24, 2010

2010 11 24 - St Petersburg: Hermitage

On our first day in St Petersburg we visited the famous State Hermitage Museum. The Museum, which is among the largest in the world, sits on the banks of the Neva River and houses over 3 million works and artifacts. The Museum was the setting for the rather unique film "Russian Ark" which is noted for being done with a single shot covering 96 minutes.

Here are some random highlights from our trip to the Hermitage.

Astronomical Globe by Georg Roll and Johann Reinhold (16th Century)

This is sort of the Google Skymaps app from 500 years ago.

One of the more popular exhibits is a group of State Rooms which are supposed to replicate the way a room in the Hermitage may have appeared during the 19th century.

Hermitage State Room
Hermitage State Room

Not sure but I think that is a Piano with Hammers, just that the strings are exposed.



Henri Matisse
Dance - Henri Matisse (1910)
Fruit Flowers and the Panel "Dance"


Matisse "Dance" Corner of the Hermitage

I am guessing that this is one of the things that curators do - The latter Matisse painting above is at the right of the photo directly above, while "Dance" is on the left. In this photo you can sort of get a feel for the way Dance appeared to Matisse when he was creating "Fruit Flowers and the Panel Dance"

The above are all housed in a wing of the museum dedicated to the European painters from the Romantic period. Van Gogh, Matisse, Cezanne etc.


Marble


Jupiter (1st Century AD)

I think from what I gather in the description that Jupiter himself is from the 1st century - while everything else was added as part of a reconditioning in the 1800s.

The Goddess Victory held by Jupiter
There are bunches of statue rooms and Jupiter is the king of the sculptures.



Billie Jo with Jupiter
But Billie Jo cut him down to size. Speaking of Billie Jo there was this:




Interestingly the work is titled "Billie Jo's Wild Years"






Branding


2 Yankees Caps at the Hermitage, including one worn by a woman. Also spotted a college aged person in and Oregon U Sweatshirt - Go Ducks!


New York Yankees 8
Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Solchi 2014 2
Boston Celtics 1
Elliot Sadler 1
Atlanta Braves 1
Chicago Bulls 1
NHL 1
U of Michigan 1
NBA 1
Oregon U 1





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