Also displayed in this room is a very large collection of Persian carved stones and coins.

Room 384. In Persia the manufacture of bronze goods was widely developed. Varied in their shapes and their functions, they were produced by casting and chasing, and subsequently inlaid with red copper and silver. Excellent pieces of this sort of work are a twelfth century censer in the form of a cat, an aquamanile (1205) representing a female zebu with a calf, and two twelfth century bronze pots made by craftsmen from the town of Gerat.

Rooms 385-387. Persian ceramics, 12th-15th centuries. In the East lustre ware from the northern Persian towns of Kashan and Rayy was very highly esteemed, and there are in the exhibition examples of the work produced in these towns – glazed tiles for facing secular and devotional buildings. These include tiles dating from the thirteenth century which decorated the Iman-zade Yakhyya mausoleum in the town of Veramin, and a lustre mihrab, a prayer-niche facing Mecca in the wall of a mosque or mausoleum, from Kashan (1305). The most splendid item made by the Kashan craftsmen is a large lustre vase of the thirteenth century with the figures, in relief, of musicians, animals and scenes from a game of polo (room 387).

In rooms 391-394 there is a very rich collection of objects produced by craftsmen of the sixteenth to eighteenth century; among these are velvet and silk fabrics embroidered with gold and silver, carpets, copper and bronze utensils, in many cases with the texts of poems by famous Persian poets, ceramics from the towns of Kashan, Isfahan, Kerman and Yezd, damask sabres and daggers adorned with gold inlay, lacquers and articles made of coloured glass.

The items displayed in room 394 reflect the extensive trade connections which Persia maintained with Russia and many European nations. In room 392 are some miniatures of the Tabriz, Shiraz and Isfahan schools; these are also some originals of the well-known seventeenth century Persian artist Reza-i-Abbasi.

Room 388. Syria and Iraq, 13th-15th centuries. Syria was famous for its glassware with coloured enamel patterns, exported to many distant places, and of interest in this respect is a thirteenth century glass vessel in the form of a horn bearing Arabic inscriptions and the representations of Christian saints. The sixteenth century German-made silver mount was produced, as the inscription says, upon the order of a knight of the Livonian Order, Bruno Drollshagen. Enjoying wide renown were the bronze utensils produced by Syrian and Iraqi craftsmen who, by skilfully combining in their ornamentation engraving, niello and inlay work, could turn simple articles of everyday use into splendid works of art (see, for example, the basins, dishes, candlesticks, etc.).

Rooms 389 and 390. Egypt, 7th-15th centuries. This exhibition provides an introduction to the craft work of Mohommedan Egypt. Notice especially a large collection of seventh to twelfth century fabrics, two magnificent vessels made of rock crystal, some bronzes, glassware and ceramics. The fourteenth century glass lamps (room 390) painted with coloured enamels, and with the heraldic emblems and the names of the rulers of the Mameluke dynasty, remind us of Syrian glassware. It is known that after the conquest of the country by the Mamelukes, Syrian glass-blowers were taken to Egypt. Some details of thirteenth to fifteenth century architectural ornamentation are very striking – carved wooden panels for interior decorationj inlaid with ivory and valuable kinds of wood, and bearing a typical geometric design.

Lamp made of rock crystal. Egypt, 10th century

Rooms 395-397. Turkey, 15th-18th centuries. As a result of conquests the Ottoman Sultanate became, in the fifteenth century, one of the world’s most powerful states. In the centre of one of the rooms is exhibited a remarkable suit of armour belonging to a Turkish cavalry soldier of the fifteenth century. In cabinet 2 is the headdress of a Janissary, the Janissaries constituting a special corps of the Turkish regular army in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The collection of Turkish applied art is exceptionally rich. Rooms 395 and 396 contain sixteenth and seventeenth century ceramics from the towns of Iznik in Asia Minor and Damascus in Syria, prominent centres of the ceramic industry. Eighteenth and early nineteenth century ceramics from the town of Kutahya are displayed in room 397. The towns of Bursa, Damascus and Scutari were renowned for their brocade, velvets and silk fabrics (see rooms 395-397). Carpets were manufactured everywhere, in Kula, Bergama, Ladip and Qhiordes; the finest of the carpets in the Hermitage was made in the town of Usak (room 396, frame 15). The favourite decorative motif, adorning ceramics, fabrics and carpets alike, is the representation of flowers – carnations, tulips, hyacinths, wild roses – and of pomegranates. In rooms 396 and 397 there is an enormous collection of richly ornamented weapons made by craftsmen in Istanbul, Trebizond and Erzurum.

Room 177 reflects the activities of the Decembrists. Only the most significant material is on show, that illustrating the more important stages of the Decembrist movement, which influenced the further development of the revolutionary ideas. V. Timm’s picture 14th December 1825 occupies the central place, being one of the few canvases on that subject painted in the nineteenth century.

In this room there is also a beautiful suite of furniture typical of that to be seen in the houses of the rich at the beginning of the century, silk wall panels, bronzes and porcelain.

Room 178 is a library decorated in the English style. The walnut furnishings were made in 1894 at the Meltser Furniture Factory in St Petersburg.

Rooms 179-182 are devoted to the flowering of the arts and sciences in Russia in the first half and middle of the nineteenth century. One’s attention is drawn to a bronze bust of Pushkin, cast from I. Vitali’s original in 1841-42. This stands out as one of the best sculpture portraits of Pushkin, both by its artistic mastery and by the expressiveness with which the sculptor conveys Pushkin’s poetic inspiration.

Portraits of Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, A. Ostrovsky, Goncharov and I. Turgenev witness to the flowering of Russian literary criticism and theatre. Under the Portrait of Gogol, painted in the early 1840s by F. Muller, is displayed a copy of the prose poem Dead Souls, published in 1842, and also A. Agin’s delightful drawings for that work.

The Portrait of I. Turgenev is interesting in that it was drawn from life by the German artist K. Lessing during Turgenev’s stay at Baden spa in 1876.

Room 183 contains works typical of Russian folk art in the first half of the nineteenth century, with its highly distinctive qualities and centuries-old traditions. One’s attention is drawn to a collection of distaffs in a wide variety of shapes and patterns, made by unknown masters from various Russian provinces.

This period saw the flowering of many forms of folk art, in particular wood-carving, pottery, weaving, needlework, and decorative lacquer-work.

Room 184 is devoted to Russian architecture. Numerous drawings, prints, lithographs and paintings will acquaint the viewer with the work of the greatest architects of the first half of the nineteenth century, and with the architectural aspect of Russian towns and cities at that time.

Room 185 contains numerous exhibits which illustrate the great achievements of Russian applied art in the first half of the nineteenth century. These objects have the distinctive simplicity, organic harmony and clarity of line which are characteristic of Russian Classicism. An example of this style is provided by a suite of gilt furniture with upholstery produced at the St Petersburg Tapestry Workshop in 1806. The two tapestries representing Saturn and Aurora also belong to this suite and the ensemble adorned one of the rooms in the Winter Palace.

An important role in interior design was played by bronze: chandeliers, candelabra and vases. Those produced at the Imperial Glass Works were particularly renowned. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the famous architect Rossi became chief designer for that factory – the oldest in the country. The large cut-glass vases, the candelabra and standard lamps in this room were made from his drawings. Articles from the Imperial Glass- Works are notable for the rich effect of the faceted glass which harmonizes with the gilded bronze setting.

Some of the finest examples of Russian porcelain are displayed in the cases by the window. Besides articles produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory there are items from the private factories of Gardner, Batenin, and others. In this room there are also examples of Russian ivory-carving and articles made of tortoise-shell and horn. Room 186. The paintings, prints and miniatures in this room illustrate the development of Russian artistic life in the first half of the nineteenth century. The distinguished Russian artist of the first half of the nineteenth century Briullov (1799-1852) is represented by the Portrait of Bobrinskaya. There are also works by his pupils Kapkov (18.16-1854) and Orlov (1812-1863), and by the talented serf artists Tropinin (1776-1857), Argunov (1771 – 1829) and Tulov. The work of the pupils of Venetsianov, the founder of realism in Russian art, is also well represented.

There are also interesting pictures of interiors in the- Winter Palace, a rare collection of which is preserved in the Hermitage.

In room 187 are exhibits illustrating the disintegration of the feudal system in Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century. Water-colours and lithographs by Timm (1810-1895) and Filippov (1830-1878) portray various episodes in the Crimean War of 1853- 56, the heroism of the soldiers defending Sevastopol.

Kolyvan vase. Revniukha jasper, 1829-43

The fine portraits by Gay (1831-1894), founder member of the Society for Circulating Art Exhibitions, are a reminder of the awakening of social consciousness in Russia, of the new ideas for the reform of the old system. These portraits depict Herzen and Nekrasov. There is also a portrait of Chernyshevsky (?) by Petrov (1833-1882).

The exhibition ends with a display of material relating to the peasant reform of 1861.

Kulibin. Egg-shaped clock

Examples of Russian painting, largely portraiture, which came into vogue on a large scale in the eighteenth century, are to be found in rooms 165 and 170. The portraits of Prince Cherkassky and Count Sheremetev, painted by the talented serf artist Ivan Argunov (1727-1802), should be given special mention. Several portraits by the outstanding portrait painters Dmitry Levitsky (1735-1822) and Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825), and the landscapes of Semion Shchedrin (1745-1804) illustrate the {lowering of Russian painting in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Vinogradov. Porcelain cup

The water-colours, engravings and sketches in rooms 164 and 172 acquaint one with eighteenth century Russian architecture. These include in particular items associated with the work of the most outstanding Russian architect of the eighteenth century, Bartolommeo Rastrelli, Vasily Bazhenov (1737-1799), Matvey Kazakov (1738- 1812/13) and Ivan Starov.

In room 169 special attention should be paid to the egg-shaped clock designed by the distinguished self-taught Russian mechanic Ivan Kulibin (1735-1818). The small clock, the size of a goose’s egg, has more than four hundred parts, which set in motion three mechanisms – one clockwork, one musical, and the third which animates miniature gold figures. Kulibin worked on the clock for more than three years and made it so well that the complex mechanism remains to this day in good working order. Among Kulibin s many technical inventions was a plan for a gigantic, single-span wooden bridge across the Neva, never realized in the conditions of feudal Russia.

Russian craft industry and folk art are widely represented in rooms 167, 173 and 174 by articles made of silver, metal and glass, tapestries, and some wood and ivory carving. Included in the rich collection of eighteenth century porcelain are some rare examples – a cup, ornamented with a grape design (1749), and a snuff-box (1752) produced in the Imperial Porcelain Works in St Petersburg by the father of home-produced porcelain, Vinogradov (1720-1758).

In room 173, among items made by ivory carvers from the town of Kholmogory near Archangel, is an elegant open-work carved vase, created by N. Vereshchagin. The chief attraction here is the splendid collection of articles made in Tula from polished steel – weapons, caskets, decorative tableware, chessmen – the surfaces of which are adorned with rose-cut steel “heads” (room 174).

The Gold Room contains some very rare examples of Russian jewellery dating from the seventeenth to twentieth century.

Displayed in room 155 is a rare collection of duplicating lathes from Peter’s own workshop. The large lathe made by the talented Russian mechanic Andrey Nartov (1693-1756) is unique. The details were painstakingly designed by hand, and the lathe is complete with mechanical support.

In room 156, amongst articles turned on these lathes, is an ivory candelabrum, certain details of which were made by Peter himself.

Carlo Bartolommeo Rastrelli. Bust of Peter the Great

In the centre of the room stands the “Triumphal Column”, a model of the monument which they intended to erect on one of the squares in St Petersburg to commemorate Russian victories in the Great Northern War. The stem of the column consists of eight bronze cylinders with scenes from land and sea battles, and the column is surmounted by a statue of Peter, a copy of the wooden sculpture made by Carlo Bartolommeo Rastrelli (c. 1670-1744), the father of the great architect. The display also includes some memorial items, namely the uniform and hat worn by Peter on the day of the battle of Poltava. In room 157 are exhibited numerous objects of art and ornaments in ivory, metal and glass, which show the development during Peter’s time of the different branches of the applied arts.

Room 158 contains works of painting, sculpture, drawing and engraving. Notable for its great artistic merit is the bronze bust of Peter the Great created by the sculptor Carlo Bartolommeo Rastrelli in 1723. The facial expression, the impetuous turn of the head reveal the complex character of the tsar, his inflexible will, intellect and energy. On the breastplate an allegorical scene is depicted: Peter is carving from stone the figure of a woman wearing a royal crown, personifying the might of Russia. Engravings by the talented craftsman Alexey Zubov (1682 – after 1744), outstanding among which is the Petersburg Panorama (1716), present the topographical record of the city on the Neva during the first ten years of its existence. In a horizontal case near the window is a collection of portrait miniatures on enamel, among them a group portrait of Peter and members of his family, the work of the famous artist Musikiysky (died 1737)

Displayed in room 159 are items of furniture and decorative objects from the first quarter of the eighteenth century, among them the tapestry, Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava, indicating the achievements of the Russian craftsmen of the St Petersburg tapestry workshop which was set up in 1717.

Occupying pride of place in room 160 is the effigy representing Peter seated in an armchair. The statue was created by Carlo Bartolommeo Rastrelli in life size (Peter was 6 ft. 8 in. tall) immediately after the death of the tsar. Wax impressions were made of the face, hands and feet, the body was cut from wood, and the wig, according to legend, was made from Peter’s own hair. The figure is dressed in the robes worn by the tsar at the coronation of Catherine I in 1724.

One of the most outstanding items in the exhibition is the map of Siberia, painted on cloth in 1698 by the scholar and geographer Remezov, who adhered to the system of Oriental cartographers and placed the south uppermost, the north at the bottom, the west on the right and the east on the left. The map amply conveys the peculiar features of this distant region, indicates the towns of Tobolsk, Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, and the settlements and nomad encampments of the Yakuts, Evenks and Chukchi.

The exhibition ends with a display of late seventeenth century art, in which of particular interest is the icon St John the Winged Precursor painted in 1689 by Tikhon Filatyev, a fine painter of the Moscow school.

Pendants. Gold, cloisonne enamel. Kiev, 12h century

Exhibited in room 144 are groups of objects which illustrate the way of life and the culture of rural communities in old Russia. The material in room 145 is devoted to a display of urban culture, based upon the example of Old Ladoga and Belaya Vezha, important centres of trade and crafts from the tenth to twelfth century.

Archaeological research on the latter was carried out between 1949 and 1951 in connection with the construction of the Volga-Don Canal.

Icon of St Nicholas. Novgorod School, 13h century

Room 146. Weapons and armaments used by the Russian warrior- chain mail, the sword and the spear heads found on the site of the Raikovetsky settlement near the town of Berdichev – are evidence of the heroic defence and the destruction of this small fortress-town during the invasion of Russian lands by the Tartar-Mongol hordes of Batu-Khan.

The exhibitions in rooms 147-149 provide an introduction to the architecture, art and relics of writing of the tenth to thirteenth century. Of particular value are some frescoes and a mosaic floor from the church of the Mikhailovsko-Zlatoverkhy monastery in Kiev (early twelfth century). Examples of stone carving, used to embellish the facades of shrines and palaces, reflect the great mastery of the Russian builders and craftsmen, among whom the stone carvers of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality were particularly renowned. There is also some splendid jewellery, adorned with the most exquisite cloisonne enamel, granulation, filigree and niello. The Tmuto-rokan Stone is an ancient relic indicating the early development of writing in Russia. It is a large marble slab bearing the inscription of the Russian prince, Gleb, which speaks of the work, carried out in 1068, of measuring the distance between Korchev (Kerch) and Tmutorokan (Taman). A letter written on the bark of a birch tree found during excavations at Pskov, denotes the growth of literacy during the twelfth century among the middle strata of urban society (room 148). The culture of Pskov and Novgorod is represented in the exhibits of room 150, which contains fragments of architectural ornamentation, a collection of icons, examples of craft work and various articles of domestic life.

The Armorial Hall (195) was designed by Stasov after the fire. The pictures of the coats of arms and heraldic emblems of all the provinces of Russia, attached to bronze chandeliers, gave the name to the hall, which was intended for balls and receptions.

The 1812 Gallery (197) was designed in 1826 by Carlo Rossi and later restored by Stasov. On the walls hang more than three hundred portraits of generals engaged in the War of 1812, among them the portraits of Kutuzov (full length) and his companions-inarms Bagration, Yermolov, Rayevsky, Davydov and many others. The portraits were painted by the famous English artist George Dawe (1781-1829) who, with the assistance of the Russian painters Poliakov and Golike, worked in the palace from 1819 to 1829 on the completion of the commissioned work. The equestrian portraits of Alexander I and his ally in the war with Napoleon, Frederick-William III of Prussia, were painted by the German artist Franz Kruger (1797–1857), and that of the Austrian emperor Francis I, by the Austrian Peter Krafft (1780-1856).

At the time of the fire in 1837 the portraits were removed from the flames by guardsmen assisting in the rescue of the Palace treasures.

One’s attention is drawn to some empty frames filled with green taffeta. The inscriptions on the frames give the names and ranks of those who fell in battle and whose portraits it was not possible to reproduce.

The 1812 Gallery was eulogized by Pushkin as a monument to the glory of Russia.

There is a chamber in the palace of the Tsar,
Its treasures neither gold, nor velvet are ….
……………………………………………..
Drawn by the artist’s hand in compact groups
Stand chieftains of triumphant Russia’s troops
Crowned with the frame of 1812- a year
Whose memory every Russian heart holds dear.

The St George Hall (198), also known as the Large Throne Hall, is solemn and austere in appearance. It is decorated with white Carrara marble imported from Italy and gilded bronze. The parquet floor, made from sixteen different kinds of valuable wood, mirrors exactly the bronze ceiling pattern. Opposite the entrance to the room is a marble bas-relief, St George Slaying the Dragon, executed by the Italian sculptor Francesco del Nero after a drawing by Stasov, who designed the room in full (1842). In the St George

The 1812 Gallery, Winter Palace

Hall, which occupies eight hundred square metres (8,608 sq. ft.), there is a map of the Soviet Union made of semi-precious stones, standing on the same spot as the throne in former times. The craftsmen from Leningrad and Sverdlovsk who created the map emerged as worthy successors in a long line of Russian stone carvers, and the map has twice been on view at world exhibitions – in 1937 in Paris, where it was awarded a Grand Prix, and in New York, in 1939. Beautiful and also of great precision, the map is made from forty-five thousand pieces of stone-jasper of various kinds, lapis lazuli, rhodonite, porphyry, etc. – and on the surface of the map, which covers an area of twenty-seven square metres (290 sq. ft.), the different physical features are shown in relief. The valleys are green, the mountain tops snow-white, the seas and oceans blue, and the contours of the mountain ranges brown. The diamonds of the hammer and sickle sparkle and gleam against the ruby star representing on the map the capital of the Soviet Union, Moscow.

The Memorial Room of Peter the Great. Winter Palace

The Antechamber (192) leads to a suite of state rooms overlooking the Neva. Next to it is the Great Hall (191), also known as the Ballroom which, with an area of over one thousand one hundred square metres (12,716 sq. ft.), is the largest room in the Palace. Nowadays the hall is used to house temporary exhibitions.

The Concert Hall of the Winter Palace (190) contains an exhibition entitled Russian Silverware: late 17th – early 20th centuries. The most noteworthy item in the exhibition is the tomb of Alexander Nevsky in the form of a sarcophagus, embellished with rich ornamentation and bas-reliefs depicting scenes from the life of Alexander Nevsky, and with an ornamental pyramid bearing the figures of winged genii. On the shields which the genii hold in the hands are engraved lines from poems by Mikhail Lomonosov, the eminent Russian poet and scientist, dedicated to this unusual work, created by Russian craftsmen whose names have not come down to us. The tomb was made in the middle of the eighteenth century at the St Petersburg Mint, and in all almost 1.5 tons of silver were used, obtained in the space of one year from the Kolyvan mines in the Altai region of West Siberia.

The Malachite Room. Winter Palace

The Malachite Room (1S9), one of the most beautiful rooms in the Palace, designed in 1829 by A. Briullov, is notable for its malachite columns, pilasters and mantelpieces, created in the method known as Russian mosaic. In this method the stone or metal base of an object was tiled with thin, carefully polished pieces of a rare, deep green stone obtained in the Urals. Over two tons of malachite were used on the decoration of the room. Russian malachite work, for which the Peterhof Lapidary Works was particularly famous, was without equal in the world and enjoyed extremely high esteem.

The St George Hall. Winter Palace

The historical associations of the Malachite Room are full of interest. During the night of November 7th the last meeting of the counter-revolutionary Provisional Government took place here. Upon the storming of the Winter Palace the ministers took cover in the adjoining room, the Private Dining-room (188), where they were arrested by the revolutionaries. Leading detachments of revolutionary soldiers burst into the Palace from Palace Square by the entrance nearest the Admiralty, the entrance now bearing the name

The Private Dining-room. Winter Palace

Oktiabrsky in memory of this event. The Private Dining-room, designed in 1894 according to the plan of the architect Meltzer, still retains the appearance and atmosphere of those historic days of October 1917.