The Hermitage, also known as the Winter Palace, is an extravagantly decorated museum of monumental size that possesses numerous impressive features; ¨1,786 doors, 1,945 windows and 1,057 elegantly and lavishly decorated halls and rooms, many of which are open to the public¨ (St. Petersburg Online). It is home to millions of priceless works of art from the prehistoric Paleolithic Era and Iron Ages to modern pieces created by current artists (The State Hermitage Museum). The museum was founded by Catherine the Great in 1764 when she acquired a couple hundred German pieces from Berlin. Since then, the collection has grown tremendously to almost three million pieces from all around the globe, making the Hermitage, quite possibly, St. Petersburg’s most remarkable landmark (St. Petersburg Online). ¨The experts say that if you were to spend a minute looking at each exhibit on display in the Hermitage, you would need 11 years before you’d seen them all¨, St. Petersburg Online Explains. However, art was not the first inhabitant of the Palace. Before it became a museum, the Winter Palace was home to the Russian Tsars. In 1762 the palace’s eight year construction was completed. It was built for Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great. However she died, along with the her son, Peter III, the heir to the throne, before the building was finished. Instead Peter’s wife, Catherine the Great, made use of the sumptuous palace (St. Petersburg Online). Immediately, the new tsaritza ordered that the largest, strongest cats, most suited for catching mice and rats be sent to the Winter Palace from Kazan (McGrane). The cats have been a constant presence in the palace ever since, guarding precious works of art and artifacts from destructive rode...
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...rane, Sally. "Cats of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg." Newyorker.com. The New Yorker, 25 Sept. 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .
Roberts, Patrick. "Cats of the Hermitage Museum." Purr-n-fur.org.uk. Purr-n-Fur, 2006. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .
Rodgers, James. "Hermitage Palace Is Cat's Whiskers." BBC News. BBC, 10 May 2007. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. .
The Cats of the Hermitage. NBC Olympics, 2014. Video Posted on Website.
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If the above mentioned paintings do not sound intriguing, the Frick’s remarkable holdings also include works by David, Goya, Renoir, Bruegel, and Velasquez. However, its collection is not limited to paintings only as significant sculptures like Bernini’s “Head of an Angel” from 1655 and Clodion’s ”Zephyrus and Flora” from 1799 can be found there as well. Along with these sculptures, an extensive collection of Italian bronzes and eighteenth century furniture combine to create a museum which although is small in size compared to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, makes up for it with an extensive collection of carefully selected pieces from some of the world’s most renowned artists.
The purpose of each museum is to educate the public by showing works of art. While the Met has a wider variety to offer the public in terms of styles and periods, the Frick has differently curated collection reflecting Frick’s personal tastes. Despite their differences, both museums are successful in achieving the objectives issued in their mission statements, and both can be visually exhilarating experiences.
Charles F. Bryan, Jr., “State Historical Agencies, Museums, and Societies: A Constant State of Change,” in James B. Gardner & Peter S. LaPaglia, Public History: Essays from the Field (Malabar, Florida, 2006), 295-306
The St. Louis Art Museum is one of the United States most renowned art museums that is located in our very own St. Louis. It has over 30,000 pieces of exquisite art that I had the privilege to witness. While there, I mainly examined the art pieces that were modern art, since that is of what I have a good working knowledge. There is a wide range of art that I also got to witness including the sculptures and the museum itself. In the past year, they have recently installed a new sector of their establishment that has done nothing less than enhance the entire museum’s overall beauty. The St. Louis Art Museum, there are many beautiful works, but there were three special projects that caught my eye while I was there. The Contemporary art periods, Modern art periods, the American art periods, and the museum itself.
In the essay, “At the Buffalo Bill Museum, June 1988”, by Jane Tompkins, the author describes her trip to the museum and her perspective on the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. In her essay, she expresses her thought of the museum as, “the most disturbing places I have ever visited. It is also a wonderful place” (588). In the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, she admires the beauty, details, and veracity of paintings. However, she feels arts are not respected in there, for their meanings are altered. As Tompkins claims, “someone had taken the trouble to ferret out Remington’s statement of horror” (588). Moreover, she perceived, “Remington’s paintings and statues … are imperialist and racist” (590). In the Buffalo Bill Museum, there is no sign
A monumental staircase is the centerpiece of entrance hall and creates a barrier to a direct view of the courtyard. The stairway, although grandiose, is modeled after oversized wooden stairs with a “wealth of spindles and paneling from his earlier Shingle style houses.” The oversized arched windows on the wall facing Exeter Street, bring sunlight into this space, and have a radiant effect on the walls covered with variegated Sienna marble (especially quarried for the library). At the intermediate landing, there are two hand carved couchant lions, which are the work of Louis Saint-Gaudens. Above this stairway a spherical chandelier of bronze and cut glass hangs from the richly coffered ceiling. As you climb up the stairs towards the main landing, the paintings of Puvis De Chavannes representing poetry, philosophy, and science adorn the wall. These murals are painted
The Metropolitan Museum of Art came about as an idea from Jon Jay in Paris, France in 1866 with the idea of “national institution gallery of art” within the United States. Once this idea was proposed, it was immediately moved forward with his return to the United States. With the help of the Union League Club in NY they began to acquire civic leaders, businessmen, artists, and collectors who aided in the creation of the museum. For over 140 years, the visitors who go here have received everything the mission of the institution states.
When Louis XIII built his hunting lodge on the hillside of Versailles in 1623 , I suspect he never imaged the true master piece of French Baroque architecture it would become and that it would continue live throughout history in all its glory, almost viewed as a physical timeline of the history of France. Versailles was the seat of absolute monarchy and became its own symbol, it became the physical representation for power. Looking past its extensive historical background, the palace of Versailles has such a complex architectural and artistic influence as nearly four generations of French king royals have lived in the palace continually expanding and renovating it to match the current styles and inspirations of that era. In creating Versailles,
As the humans began to wish that they were adopted by a Sphynx, the other cat breeds grew to be jealous and mean-spirited. So they devised a plan to get rid of all the humans. One night all the other cat species met up in an abandoned warehouse and debated as to what should happen to all the Sphynx’s and their pet humans. After conversing amongst each other, they came up with a plan to gather all the humans that have a sphinx for an owner, then store them in the industrial sized freezer that is inside the abandoned warehouse they were in.
Thomson Highway’s The Kiss of the Fur Queen has a core theme of art. In this novel, art is integrated into the lives of the characters. The modernist movement would indicate that art has the ability to plainly exist “art of arts sake”. Peter Lamarque notes “To value a work for its own sake is to value it for what it is in itself, not for the realization of some ulterior ends.” (par. 19) This commonly accepted view, that art is valued because it is great art, not for the role or function that it has in society, restricts arts impact. This perspective limits and does not allow for the surfacing of profound effects that art creates. In the Kiss of the Fur Queen, art has power it does not simply exist but has function. The observable function of art in this text is in education, providing identity and finally uniting Gabriel and Jeremiah with their cultural roots.
The “superstar” museum gained this status by considering every important detail during its establishment and initial phases of conversion from royal palace to museum (Gombault, 2002). As the purpose of the building changed, each room addressed new functions with new requirements. Although the function of the Louvre is different from the building’s original intention, the building is still appears dignified and important enough to display priceless artifacts and painting (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). This consideration was applied in designing the Met. The Met looked towards the South Kensington Museum (Victoria and Albert) and the “ideal role model” due to its extensive collections and international reputation (Heckscher, 1995). The Met found itself in a similar situation to the South Kensington, because it did not have a building or a collection to start with (Heckscher, 1995). When designing museums, architects strived to create monuments that “prepare and educate the mind of the visitor (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998).” Education is an essential function of a museum. Acquiring, preserving, and properly displaying materials, permits a museum to fulfill this duty (Steffensen-Bruce, 1998). For instance, lighting is a factor that affects the manner in which artwork is viewed and can be properly appreciated. When determining the proper lighting for the Louvre, Comte d’Angiviller, strongly believed that natural, overhead lighting was the most effective solution (McClellan, 1994, p. 72). The same determination impacted the decision to add skylights at the Met. During the initial phase, architects Vaux and Mould, added skylights to the upper floor, and windows to the lower floor that provided a natural light solution (Heckscher, 1995). Additionally, glass-roofed courtyards provided “unimpeded light” for displaying
The palace has a very large scale with many windows. The palace had around 350 living areas. The room types and sizes varied some were small attic spaces and some were large apartments. When someone was to come to the palace the room they got depended on the rank according to the King; the higher the rank the better of a room you got. The bedroom of King Louis XIV, was built on the second floor and was located in the center of the palace.
One of the many famous taxidermy companies of this era was Rowland Ward Ltd. Rowland was born in 1848, to Henry Ward, an established taxidermist at the time. Rowland left school and went to work in his father’s taxidermy business when he was only 14, and by 1873 he began operating his own taxidermist company. He captured the attention of many with his ambitious display at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 which contained around a hundred trophy animals from India, including an elephant and even a bear. Later, in 1898, Rowland Ward re-established his company in Piccadilly, London. His business became incredibly popular with a considerable amount of his customers being of royalty, and his Piccadilly premises being nicknamed ‘The Jungle’. He undoubtedly was an incredibly important taxidermist during the 19th century, as many of his techniques are still used today. (flowing sentence --- will do
The Palace of Versailles was the official home of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790. Originally, a hunting lodge built in 1624 by Louis XIII, but then was expanded by Louis XIV in the beginning of 1669. With beautiful architecture and amazing landscape, it is one of the most well- known and beautiful palaces in France. Its garden is so unique and one of Europe's largest. It played a huge responsibility in French government and was used for some of the biggest meetings of Kings and Queens. It is a very reflective place for the French and showed a basis of culture for the people. The small structure became the base on which was constructed into one of the most extravagant buildings in the world. The Palace of Versailles is a famous French landmark due to its elaborate construction, its role as a center of government, and its influence on French culture.
The original residence, built from 1631 to 1634, was mainly a hunting lodge, by Louis XII and private withdraw for Louis XIII and his family. The palace was transmuted into an excessive complex, which has English and French gardens and each feature of its