New halls of Peter the Great Gallery open at State Hermitage Museum
RELEASE
Release
The opening ceremony for two new halls of The Peter the Great Gallery – a permanent exhibition created with support from Gazprom – took place today at the State Hermitage Museum. The exhibition is timed to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great.
The new halls showcase, among other things, interior items from the era of Peter I. These include Peter the Great's ceremonial painted table and the Augsburg cabinets – silver cases with golden embellishments and painted ornamentation in which jewelry was stored. Visitors can also explore a unique collection titled “Turnery” which features lathes and cutting tools that were used by Peter I, as well as artworks he created.
The first three halls of the exhibition were unveiled in January 2022. Now, five out of the permanent exhibition's eleven halls are open at the Hermitage Museum for the residents and guests of St. Petersburg. The exhibition is on display at the Courtyard Enfilade of the Winter Palace.
“Today, we open the second part of The Peter the Great Gallery commemorating the Russian emperor. The gallery tells the story of Peter I and the memory that lingers through centuries, cross-linking the real Peter and Peter the icon, and highlighting the enormous symbolic weight he holds for our nation and country. This exhibition is all about preserving his memory: one of the halls displays portraits of Peter's associates that were reproduced from originals at the behest of Nicholas I. We opened the first few halls in January, some are opening now, and the rest of the halls, which are devoted to Empress Elizabeth, will open sometime later as part of a unified whole. There are a lot of wonderful exhibits here: items that belonged to Peter and that carry his legacy. We would like to thank Gazprom for its support,” said Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director General of the State Hermitage Museum.
Background
Gazprom actively takes part in the preparation and holding of ceremonial events celebrating the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter I. The celebrations are taking place all around Russia.
In St. Petersburg, the Company is joining forces with Russian museums and other organizations to pursue a number of ambitious projects, for instance, the historical exhibition project titled “30 Paintings from the Life of Peter the Great. 2022” on the Field of Mars; the State Hermitage Museum's new permanent exhibition named “The Peter the Great Gallery” which showcases unique objects from the era of Peter I, including personal belongings of Russia's first emperor; the holding of the 15th International Peter the Great Congress titled “Not a Sorcerer, but a Genius... Peter the Great's Identity during his Era”; the “Imperial Hall” project at the Kunstkamera that will house the “Multinational Russia” ethnography exhibition; the restoration of the painting “Peter I at Krasnaya Gorka Lighting a Fire on the Shore to Signal to his Sinking Ships” by Ivan Aivazovsky from the collection of the State Russian Museum; the monument titled “Peter the Great Saves the Drowning near Lakhta”; a cultural research program titled “From the City to the World. The Great Embassy: Designing the Future” which is implemented as part of Gazprom's social project Friends of St. Petersburg; and St. Petersburg Art Fair 1703 in the Manege Central Exhibition Hall.