А great many people think that the Hermitage is only a museum. Some people know that it is also a serious research centre, where works of art are studied, restored and preserved. And only for a very small number, a chosen few, the Hermitage is home. It is to these - the Hermitage cats - that the authors dedicate their book. Two kinds of cats can be seen in the Hermitage. The real ones, who occupy the Hermitage basements, have been in state service, attached to the museum, for more than 260 years now. The other kind of cats are part of the museum exhibits, the best loved specimens in the Hermitage "menagerie". They are looking at us out of display cases and canvases by the great masters. Cats in art and real-life cats - these two sorts of felines are the subjects of this lavishly illustrated book. It provides an interesting insight into the long history of interaction between humans and cats. Издание на английском языке.

Lives of cats and men intertwined long ago. People worshiped cats like gods, full of superstition they were afraid of feline luminous eyes in the dark, asked for their help in protecting houses from rodents and adored them as their best friends, while painters and sculptors could not help admiring cat's grace which they considered perfect. The book gives a wide-ranging and detailed presentation of the "feline" exhibits in the Hermitage: Ancient Egyptian bronze, mediaeval European painting, Chinese and Japanese graphic art, Russian lubok prints of the 18th to 20th centuries, cats in the form of toys and much more.

There are few museums in the world of the Hermitage range, and even among them the Hermitage stands out thanks to its exclusive features. Different physical and spiritual spaces cross in the Hermitage, strikingly and sometimes unexpectedly.... 0

There are few museums in the world of the Hermitage range, and even among them the Hermitage stands out thanks to its exclusive features. Different physical and spiritual spaces cross in the Hermitage, strikingly and sometimes unexpectedly.... 0

Pronounce the word "Hermitage" in any part of Russia - and you will learn that everybody has already heard it. Even those who have never been to St Petersburg ask about the Hermitage.Taking into account all the treasures the Hermitage houses, it... 0

Pronounce the word "Hermitage" in any part of Russia - and you will learn that everybody has already heard it. Even those who have never been to St Petersburg ask about the Hermitage.Taking into account all the treasures the Hermitage houses, it... 0

The present art book features the Hermitage Museum collection of European and Russian jewellery dating from the 16th to early 20th centuries. All in all, it covers one hundred objects selected from the many thousands made of precious metals and stones and housed in the Hermitage nowadays. The core of the Hermitage collection was formed by the Imperial Treasure Gallery which would hold pieces of jewellery fashioned by the very best European artists and craftsmen. Some of them were produced on commissions of the Imperial family members, others donated as diplomatic gifts. The gallery used to have not only most expensive objects but also most valuable and rare ones from the artistic point of view. So today the Hermitage boasts not only jewellery notable for the quantity of gold and precious stones used in it as well as the earliest objects made of platinum but also best specimens distinguished by unsurpassed artistic craftsmanship. This art book introduces the reader into the world of jewellery masterpieces, the collecting of which has always been considered a matter of prestige and even pride.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today. . .

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.

The State Hermitage Museum founded in 1764 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the heart of historic St. Petersburg occupies an ensemble of magnificent buildings on the bank of the River Neva. The grandest of all is the Winter Palace - the former residence of the Russian tsars - designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Within the walls of this artistic enclave reside the Hermitage collections, about three million works that trace the development of world art and culture from the Stone Age to today.