Tyragetia (Dec 2020)
Georgian Art in the Hermitage Museum: the History and Study of the Collection
Abstract
This article offers an overview of the history of the formation of the collection of Georgian medieval art in the State Hermitage Museum. Particular attention is paid to the history of its study and exhibition. These are examined in the context of the establishment of procedure of museum work in the Hermitage in the 1920s-1970s. Also explained are the complex relations between curators, the head of the Oriental Department, Academician I.A. Orbeli and the outstanding scholar L.A. Matsulevich. Attention is given to the history of an exhibition made in connection to the Third International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology held at the Hermitage in 1935; to the permanent gallery of the Oriental Department which lasted from 1935 to 1941; to the new principles of presentation of museum objects implemented in the 1950s. The author notes the revival of scholarly contacts between the Hermitage and Georgian scholars in the second half of the 2010s.
