M. B. Piotrovskiĭ

Straight from the State Hermitage?s world-famous medieval art collection and the Arsenal, we present an amazing tale of knights and ladies, of courtly love and of chivalric tournaments. Fascination with the Middle Ages was widespread throughout nineteenth-century Europe and the tsars shared in it to the full. In 1885, Tsar Alexander III snapped up a celebrated art collection including countless medieval objets d?art just as it was to be auctioned off in Paris. The entire French art world was in shock! Nicholas I, de ?chivalrous tsar?, created an Arsenal filled with unique suits of armour and antique weapons. Now, for the first time, top items from these two collections are coming to Western Europe. Star works are Hugo van der Goes?s phenomenal triptych The Adoration of the Magi and a true Garden of Earthly Delights by a follower of Hieronymus Bosch. And a host of outstanding ecclesiastical treasures, including renowned Limoges enamels. Among the real eye-openers is a magnificent, 500-year-old manuscript of the Roman de la Rose, the much-discussed, erotically charged bestseller of the Middle Ages. And, for the knight-errant or romantic medieval damsel in you: a spectacular jousting display featuring superb suits of armour ? including one worn by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V!00Exhibition: Hermitage, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (26.05.-08.11.2020).

"Both St Petersburg and Amsterdam have often been called the Venice of the North. The expression is a good starting point for presenting the finest works of the St Petersburg Hermitage's collection of eighteen-century Venetian art in the Hermitage Amsterdam and in this volume. In the eighteen century famous painters such as Canaletto, Guardi, Longhi and Tiepolo provided a suitable grande finale to Venice's magnificent artistic tradition. These artists are generously represented in the collections of the Hermitage in St Petersburg and for this overview a selection has been made of paintings, drawings and prints by these and other famous artists. The works are supplemented by exquisite examples of the famous Venetian glass, a long-standing tradition in the city."--BOOK JACKET