Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg: museum

The Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg (full name - Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences) was founded by Emperor Peter the Great in St. Petersburg. It was opened in 1714.

More than a million exhibits were collected in the Kunstkamera at present, and the first dozens and hundreds of museum rarities included in the exposition were brought by Peter the Great from his journey through England and Holland, which the emperor made in 1698. The traveling king visited overseas museums, admired "the most wonderful" collections of rarities and, in the end, firmly decided to found in Russia a similar for the people of Russian. Driven by this idea, Peter began to buy rare items, old books, weapons, tools, appliances - anything that could surprise. Huge collections were brought to Moscow, to the royal palace. Thus appeared Kunstkamera - the first museum in Russia.

History

Separately, medical anatomical rarities, alcoholized infant freaks were collected, some evidence of natural anomalies, objects of ancient life and the lives of ancient people. Hundreds of unique exhibits formed the basis of the "cabinet of rarities" of the Russian Tsar. The halls of the Moscow residence of Peter no longer contained artifacts sent from all over the world by messengers sent out to search and acquire amazing objects. Then it was decided to transport the treasures of the "sovereign's cabinet" to Petersburg and build a special building for the Kunstkamera. Moving was carried out in 1714, all the exhibits were temporarily placed in the Summer Palace. And when the palace became cramped, most of them were placed in the mansion of the boyar Kikin - the so-called Kikin chambers. Then it was decided to build its own museum building, and a place for its construction was chosen on the tip of Vasilievsky Island, opposite the Winter Palace, which later housed the Hermitage.

Start of construction

The construction of Peter's Museum was started in 1718 and lasted about twenty years. By the time of the emperor's death - in 1725 - only the walls had been erected. The architect was Georg Johann Mattarnovi, who created the project in the Baroque style and led the construction until 1719. After his death, Nikolai Gerbel continued the construction. In 1724, Gaetano Chiaveri joined the position of architect. In 1726, the exhibits began to be delivered to the museum building.

Structure

Two three-story buildings of the museum are connected by a tower with a baroque dome. The exhibits occupy the entire eastern wing of the complex, the Academy of Sciences of Russia is located in the western part, the Anatomical Theater is located in the middle building , and the Gottorp globe and the observatory are located above it. In 1830, the Kunstkamera Museum in St. Petersburg was divided into four separate: Botanical, Ethnographic, Zoological and Mineralogical, each of which is an integral part of the main Museum. Thematically, the Kunstkamera consists of eight sections:

• History of the Kunstkamera. Russian science of the XVIII century.
• Anatomical section.
• North America.
• India and Indonesia.
• Japan.
• China and Mongolia.
• Africa.
• Australia and Oceania.

History of the Kunstkammer

The Kunstkamera Museum in St. Petersburg includes three expositions: the MV Lomonosov Museum, the Astronomical Observatory of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and the Gottorp Globe Planetarium. Expositions reflect the early period of the Kunstkamera, a lot of information is devoted to the activities of Lomonosov and the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, the work of the observatory and the exact time service housed in the central tower of the museum, as well as the account of the conditional line of the St. Petersburg meridian. The Conference Hall of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences is shown in an exposition.

Anatomical section

The Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg (photo shown in the article) has a very interesting section of anatomy. Here is an extensive exposition collected from anomalous rarities of natural origin: anatomical deformities, examples of sirenomelia, Siamese twins, baby cyclopia, lamb with two heads, etc. The main exhibition included a collection of the Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch, purchased by Peter the Great for a large sum in 1717 Year.

North America

The Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg presents an exposition dedicated to the most ancient peoples of the North American continent - the Eskimos, Indians, Aleuts. The exposition includes a dwelling of northern nationalities, primitive constructions - a needle, plague, yarangi. The dwelling of Indians is shown in the form of real wigwams, with a classic coloring and without. Also presented is the national clothing of the ancient inhabitants of North America, sewn from skins, furs, feathers and plant fibers.

India and Indonesia

The peoples of South Asia are represented in the Kunstkamera in all their diversity: here are the dwellings of ancient tribes, and kitchen utensils, and weapons, which were harvested and fed by means of which they fought. A special position in the arms exhibition of India is occupied by daggers curved in a certain way called "crisas" - a terrible, ruthless cold weapon resembling the language of a flame in a form. But most of the exhibits section talks about a peaceful life. Theatrical art is widely represented, on old special theatrical costumes for women and men, puppet dolls hang there. The scene for the theater of shadow plays is shown for a while. Many exhibits from carved wood, brought from various Indian regions.

Japan

Household items of the Japanese and the ancient Ainu people inhabiting the Japanese islands in prehistoric times are represented in the ethnography section of the country of the Rising Sun. A lot of attention is paid to Japanese means for fishing and hunting. The exhibition contains real fishing gear, primitive hooks, nets and various traps that have come to the Kunstkamera from distant times, to some exhibits for more than 10 thousand years. Armor and weapons of the Japanese samurai are separately exhibited. Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg represents samurai swords "katana", which are adjacent to miniature daggers "kusungobu" for ritual suicide - hara-kiri. There are ritual female daggers, so small that they can not be seen even in a woman's hand, but nevertheless they carried death. Such a knife was enough for a woman from the samurai kind to touch her neck, and she was dying.

China and Mongolia

The Kunstkammer is a museum that represents China as a country of discoverers of porcelain, silk and gunpowder. Ancient sets from the finest porcelain fill the exposition. There are countless cups and saucers, coffee pots and sugar bowls. The dishes are collected and divided according to the criteria of nobility, as the porcelain cup of a simple peasant and a nobleman was radically different. The exhibition features the famous Chinese cloisonne enamel, products made of bone, stone and wood. Natural silk, woven by the hands of ancient weavers, has not changed for several centuries, it is still as colorful. A special place in the exposition is occupied by a mirror-solar boiler. This device was almost in every Chinese house: a hemisphere with mirrors arranged so that the sun's rays, reflected from the mirrors, gathered in a bundle and heated the suspended kettle.

The Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg represents the Mongolian exposition, in which the main exhibit is the yurt - a nomadic dwelling, which can be formed and transported to another place. Such yurts have spread since the beginning of the XV century. From the long wooden bars there was a lattice, which served as a skeleton, then the lattice frame was covered with felt and tied with ropes. Yurt was installed in such a way that the front door was facing south. The place at the wall opposite the entrance was considered honorable, and usually there sat expensive guests. In addition, the inner space of the yurt was divided into female and male halves. In the middle of the house was a hearth, this place was considered sacred.

Nomads often changed their place of residence, it was necessary to search for pastures for cattle. Also shown Mongolian tools of agriculture, riding saddles, harness and horseclothes for horses.

Africa

The Kunstkammer is a museum that also has a hall dedicated to the African continent. It presents the history of the black population, who lived several centuries ago in the territory south of the Sahara desert. Here there are primitive implements of agriculture, wooden plows, which pulled bulls, there are objects of everyday life, as well as handicrafts, artfully made of ebony.

Australia and Oceania

The Australian exposition consists mainly of fishing tackle and hunting accessories, with the help of which the aborigines procured their livelihood. Many Australians were divers and extracted pearls from the ocean floor. To do this, they had special devices, which are also presented in the exposition.

Kunstkammer in St. Petersburg, exhibits for which are sent from around the world, is constantly expanding its exposures.