Karl Bulla
(1854-1929),
Self portrait
circa 1900
Karl Bulla
(1854-1929),
Winter Palace
from the Neva
circa 1900
Karl Bulla
(1854-1929),
Monument to
Peter the Great
1909
Medieval Rooms
in the
Old Hermitage
1880s
Elena Mrozovskaya,
Princess
Orlova-Davydova
in Masquerade
Costume for the
Ball of 1903
Willaim Carrick
(1827-1878),
Peasant with Samovar
1860s
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14th June - 10th August 2003
On 27 May 2003, St Petersburg, home of The State Hermitage Museum,
celebrates its 300th anniversary. One of the youngest cities in
Europe, it was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as a window onto
the West, part of his programme to modernise Russia.
To mark this occasion, the Hermitage Rooms
at Somerset House is offering free admission to
an exhibition of some 200 photographs from the Hermitage collection,
presenting a profile of this rich and thriving city in the late
19th and early 20th centuries when it was still the capital of Russia.
These images strikingly demonstrate just how little the city has
been affected by the subsequent upheavals of the 20th century. Visitors
to St Petersburg today will discover that much of the centre has
been preserved just at it was when these photographs were taken
- a feast of 18th- and 19th-century architecture.
Special emphasis is placed on the interiors
of the Winter Palace, home to the Romanov rulers of Russia until
their fall in 1917, and the Hermitage - then still an imperial museum.
Another group of photographs focuses on the mansions of those late
19th-century wealthy individuals whose treasures were to enter the
Hermitage after the Revolution. Complementing photographs of the
magnificent masquerade ball held in the Winter Palace in 1903 are
some of the original costumes worn at this glittering event. In
contrast to this opulence is a selection of images of ordinary people
and the less salubrious parts of town that they inhabited.
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'Russia Land of the Tsars'
Ruthlessness and brutal tyranny characterised the rule of
Russia's royalty, the all-powerful Tsars. For centuries,
millions of peasants starved to feed the extravagance of
the imperial machine. A regime rich with ruthless and remarkable
rulers: Ivan The Terrible, Russia's first Tsar, killed his
own son in a fit of rage while Catherine the Great established
the country as a massive European force, strong enough to
crush Napoleon. Guilty of countless crimes against humanity,
the Tsars would eventually be wiped out by the violent uprising
of the masses who ended centuries of oppression with the
cold-blooded execution of the last Tsar, Nicholas II.
'Russia Land of the Tsars'
can be seen on The History Channel
every Tuesday, from 27th May to 17th June at 8pm.
The History Channel is available on cable and satellite.
For further information visit
www.thehistorychannel.co.uk
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page
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