Alexander exhibit in Russia!

[amyntoros]

Not sure why I'm posting this because I don't believe we have any Russian members, however, the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia has an Alexander related exhibition which opens today.

Alexander the Macedonian in Hermitage

The State Hermitage Museum opens today the exhibition "Alexander the Great. The Road to the Orient" displaying works of art, created in periods preceding and contemporary to the famous commander.

Around 500 exhibits show how the world changed under the influence of Alexander's campaigns. The Nikolayevsky Hall, hosting the exhibition, features the route that Alexander of Macedon made. Every region passed by the conqueror is marked in a different colour.

The second part of the exposition highlights a certain myth of Alexander the Great: here the visitors will see paintings and prints made by masters of 16-19th cc. in Western Europe and Russia.

The exhibition runs till May 1, 2007.

This exhibit appears to take a different approach than the ones we're used to seeing, and, if done right, one ought to be able to truly appreciate the effect of Greek culture on the art of the regions. The illustrations from the Alexander Romance sound fascinating as well. Another road trip, anyone?

Best regards,

[wmp]

Those of us in London will hope that the exhition might move to Somerset House's Hermitage Rooms, as several Hermitage exhibitions have...

I work next door to Somerset House, & have colleagues with contacts there, so will ask around.

wmp

[Beatriki]

Hey, I want another Alexander exhibition here in Spain!!

Amyntoros, what happened to your avatar?

Kisses, Beatriki

PD: My Roger Caratini essay will come soon, it's just that I'm a litte busy right now at university

[dean]

Hello,

Amyntoros, what happened to your avatar?

I wanted to ask just the same, the avatar seems very curious and impressive indeeeeeed.

Nice one,
Take care,
Dean

[amyntoros]

Hello,

Amyntoros, what happened to your avatar?

I wanted to ask just the same, the avatar seems very curious and impressive indeeeeeed.

Marcus recognized it in another thread - it's from a nineteenth century cigar label. A somewhat Romanized Alexander, IMO, but attractive nevertheless.



Best regards,

[Paralus]

Go back to the other one. This bloke resembles a woman in armour.

Definitely "Romanised". Possibly it is Alexander at 32 - all puffy, ruddy- faced through alcohol abuse??

[amyntoros]

Oh, you're just trying to make trouble, as usual.

[Paralus]

Moi??!! Trouble? Not a chance.

He/she has the look of a perplexed visionary. Perhaps it is an image of Alexander seeking the "essence" behind his wiping out of the Greeks at the Granicus?

Remember: the Paralus was - at best - a vessel of diplomacy. That it most likely spent more time on tribute collection - as a mutual acquantaince observed - is largely neither here nor there!

[Efstathios]

Go back to the other one. This bloke resembles a woman in armour.

Actually more like an Indian-Bactrian woman.

[Paralus]

Yes, a little more rouge on the cheeks and some deftly placed eye shadow....

[marcus]

Marcus recognized it in another thread - it's from a nineteenth century cigar label. A somewhat Romanized Alexander, IMO, but attractive nevertheless.

And a little fleshier around the jowls than we might normally expect ...

ATB

[amyntoros]

And a little fleshier around the jowls than we might normally expect ...

Unless we are told, it's very difficult to know what exactly inspires an artist. My suspicion is that (as well as studying ancient statues) the painter used the coins that portray Alexander, hence the pronounced cheeks and jowls.

As for the rest of you and your, ahem, comments on rouge and lipstick - remember that portraiture varies from period to period. In Alexander's time, all his statues would have been painted and there's a probability that his lips were colored red. A couple of years ago there was an exhibition at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen where they reconstructed some ancient statues and painted them using the colors found in small remanants upon the statues themselves. Unfortunately, I can't find the original website which gave more details in English, but a photographer's blog still remains online. Check out the warrior with helmet; the grave stele of Aristion; the head of Augustus (auburn-haired?) - all on the Classicolor site. You'll find my original avatar here as well!

Oh, and Alexander supposedly had a ruddy complexion which explains the "rouge" on the cigar box image. I like the picture, anyway, even though it's not how I see Alexander, and although I originally planned to use it for just a while, I think it's a keeper now, if only to continue to irritate you guys!

Best regards,

[Beatriki]

Go back to the other one. This bloke resembles a woman in armour.

Actually more like an Indian-Bactrian woman.

Yes!! I imagine him as the typical grouch old woman That face definitely says "if you step on what I just mopped, I'll cut your throat"

Kisses, Beatriki

PD: Now thanks to you I have imagined Alexander dressed as a cleaning lady... Oh my

[AlexMikh]

ПРИВЕТ!

Not sure why I'm posting this because I don't believe we have any Russian members...

well, you shouldn't think that
it's very interesting although i don't live in St. Petersburg
but as for the Alexander Romance in Russia there were many unusual versions of it in the middle ages. The Alexander's campaign was depicted on the so-called "lubok". these prints appeared in Russia late in the seventeenth century and were widely used for the decoration of homes and inns.The subjects of many prints were drawn from literature which circulated in handwritten copies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One of them was coming from Europe a history of Alexander the Great's campaigns.

by the way, thanks for your site.

[amyntoros]

Hello Alexander and welcome to Pothos! Delighted to see you here!

I, for one, would love to know more about the various Russian versions of the Alexander Romance, however, it is unlikely that there will ever be English translations. It’s incredible how Alexander’s story became legendary in so many different parts of the world, don’t you think?

The prints must be beautiful, but I’m not sure if we will get an opportunity to see them in the west, as WMP hoped in his post. I received a link to another review which describes this as a very large exhibit featuring a great many items from the museum’s collection. I suspect, therefore, that it is unlikely to travel to other countries.

Take a look at the review in The St. Petersburg Times, especially the second photograph which is of items from the time of Alexander the Great. It looks like they have a gold Scythian arrow case similar to the one found at Vergina, but more fascinating are the bronze greaves and a helmet which have had their patina removed - they have been polished! It would be unfair to say that this would not be done in the west because we don’t know the history of the pieces, but what a rare opportunity to see how ancient armor must have looked back in the day.

Best regards,

Amyntoros