12 September 2018 – 15 January 2019

Primorsky State Integrated Museum of V. K. Arseniev

Organized by:

“The Moscow Kremlin” State Historical and Cultural Museum and Heritage Site, Primorsky State Integrated Museum of V. K. Arseniev

Supported by

Ministry for Culture of the Russian Federation, Primorsky Krai Administration, Ministry for Development of the Russian Far East

General sponsor:

PJSC Transneft

Partner:

PJSC Polyus

The V. K. Arseniev State Museum in Vladivostok hosts an exhibition presenting the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums, dedicated to the phenomenon of Russia as the largest state in the world, which has been preserving its status for more than three hundred years.  

One exhibition is hardly enough to tell in all the details about the complicated and centuries-long process of formation and expansion of the Russian state. But it is possible to show those unique works made by the orders of Russian sovereigns as well as presented to them to commemorate significant events in the geopolitical history of Russia; those changes were reflected in the title of the sovereign and in State coat of arms by adding new lands to them.

The display includes over eighty masterpieces of the 15th - early 20th century — evidence of a long and difficult way from the Moscow principality to a huge and powerful European state. Visitors have an opportunity to discover unique pieces of great historical value that were kept in the treasuries of grand princes and tsars and later – in the Armoury Chamber, the museum that was formed on the base of the treasuries. On display will be both well-known pieces and those that will leave their storage for the first time.

The objects from the Moscow Kremlin Museums’ collection remind of the most significant milestones in Russian history of forming and developing its territory, which is full of dramatic events, wars, dynastic collusions, geographical discoveries and diplomatic relationships. The exhibition presents the state regalia and pieces from the Royal Treasury, ambassadorial gifts to the Russian sovereigns, military trophies, arms and rewards of valour.

The key exhibit is the map of the Russian Empire, embroidered by female students of the Moscow College of the Order of St Catherine in 1872 and presented to Emperor Alexander II. His reign is distinguished by the expansion of the Empire through the territories of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Far East; the borders extended to its maximum in the second half of the 19th century.

This vast expansion initiated the creation of the Trans-Siberian Railway, or a “Great Siberian Railway” as it was called by contemporaries. The longest railway in the world was to connect Saint Petersburg and Moscow with the largest industrial cities and seaports of Eastern Siberia and the Far East. Tsesarevich Nikolay Alexandrovich took a part in the groundbreaking ceremony in 1891. In 1900, when the railway was practically finished, the Emperor commissioned a traditional Easter present for his wife — that Egg made at the Carl Fabergé Firm by the finest jeweller Mikhail Perkhin is now demonstrated at the exhibition. It is decorated with an engraved map of the Russian Empire and the railway. There is a surprise inside the Egg—the working model of the train made of precious stones.

The display dedicated to the expansion and strengthening of the Russian state should be of interest both to specialists and wide audience, giving a possibility to turn to the glorious chapters in the history of the Russian State.

General sponsor

 

 

Partner