Sumptuously photographed , this film is a documentary based on the huge The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It looks at the two and half century history of the world’s second largest museum, and its art collection, from the founding of St Petersburg by Peter the Great in 1762 through to now.
It is narrated by Toni Servillo – of The Great Beauty – . The bulk of the film is in Russian with English subtitles , as various experts talk about certain paintings and parts of the exhibition , but there are some segments in English . We see dizzying panning shots of the city of St Petersburg now , interspersed with black and white archival footage and photographs where possible of the great city’s history.
The film regards the Hermitage as a living organism , examining the story of the daily life of the museum today while also jumping from contemporary times to retrace two and a half centuries of drama , swirling politics and survival . The extensive complex of buildings, with the grandiose Winter Palace at its heart, is considered to be among the world’s greatest architectural wonders.
There are magnificent vistas of parts of the collection and we also see conservators and restorers working on various pieces . ( They are required to be both artists and scientists ). We learn how HUGE the collection is (over three million pieces! ) and that it features the largest collection of paintings in the world .( Not counting everything else !) But only a minuscule fraction of the works are on display at one time.
The Hermitage has been a meeting place for foreign artists, architects and intellectuals creating connections through art and culture for centuries : writers such as Gogol ,Pushkin, Dostoyevsky , Mayakovsky , Mandelstam and Akhmatova are mentioned as well as the famous “ Big Five” group of Russian composers and how they were inspired by the collection and in some cases now have a museum themselves that is linked to the Hermitage.
The film is mostly chronological in format and looks at how each of the Tsars built and /or augmented parts of the museum and the collection , at times bulk buying massive collections from, say , Spain ,France or Holland and how this both influenced Russian art and how Russian art influenced the West . Of particular note was Catherine the Great’s contribution but all the other rulers are mentioned as well.
There is also Napoleon’s invasion of 1812 and how this affected the Museum , the explosive Russian Revolution that changed everything in 1917 and the German invasion of WW11 with the horrific Siege of Leningrad , where a lot of the art works were sent away for safety. We see how during the 1920’s some of the art works were either moved to other Russian museums or sold to overseas ones ( in particular the National Museum in Washington ).
Some of the world famous arts works are shown , some individually in great close up others as part of the collection.The Hermitage has everything from Giorgione , van Dyck , Raphael ,Rubens , Fragonard , Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci to Matisse and Picasso . We also see some exquisite Canova sculptures .
The huge book collection is mentioned ( Catherine the Great for starters added Diderot and Voltaire’s libraries to the collection for example) but also how in the twentieth century some parts of the collection ended up in the Library of Congress in America. As well , we are treated to a panorama of the extraordinary Military Gallery with its portraits of 332 generals from 1812 . Plus I must not forget the research and archaeology sections .
The film is all about art , power and politics , the Russian soul and preservation of Russian art and a wonderful chance for those of us who are unable to get to Russia to learn of the Hermitage’s history and see glittering excerpts from its collection .
HERMITAGE THE POWER OF ART screens at selected cinemas from November 30 2019
Running time 90 minutes
http://www.sharmillfilms.com.au/allfilms/2019/8/15/hermitage-the-power-of-art-30-nov