: In the late Seventeenth Century Tsar Peter the Great pulled
Russian out of isolation and propelled it onto the global stage.
"Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825," a major exhibition at The
New York Public Library, places Russia in a global context,
stressing its interaction with other cultures, and the exchange
of ideas within its borders.
The exhibition in two galleries at the Humanities and Social
Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street,
coincides with the 300th anniversary of the founding
of Peter's city: St. Petersburg, Russia's "window on Europe." It
will remain on view through January 31. Admission is free. A
224-page companion volume will be published by Harvard University
Press.
With books, manuscripts, and other works on paper drawn
exclusively from the collections of The New York Public Library,
the exhibition traces Russia's development from the insular realm
of Muscovy into a global empire and highlights its relationships
with western, central, and northern Europe, as well as Asia, the
great Muslim empires, and the Americas. The exhibition features
approximately 230 items, many of which are being shown for the
first time. In addition to materials from 12 divisions of the
Library, a small selection of decorative and fine art items
loaned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Art and
Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia, A La Vieille
Russie, the American Numismatic Society, and private lenders is
also included.
The exhibition begins with a dimly lit gallery suffused with
Eastern Orthodox chants and evoking the close atmosphere of a
Muscovite interior. There are illuminated Church Slavonic
manuscripts, among them the brilliantly illuminated Sixteenth
Century "Lestnitsa" [The Ladder of Divine Ascent] of St. John
Climacus and early printed books, including the first book
printed in Moscow (1564), 100 years after Gutenberg. A
remarkable, hand-colored 1606 printed edition of the Gospels is
believed to have originally belonged to the Moscow Patriarch
(later saint) Germogen. The gallery is enhanced with
ecclesiastical objects including icons and church vestments.
Interestingly, the first Russian secular book, shown here, is a
translation of a German treatise on military tactics (1647).
The major part of the exhibition is oriented around the points of
the compass, to correspond with various Russian realms. More than
a third of the works shown are in languages other than Russian,
underscoring the cultural exchanges that were taking place during
the time period covered. More than 15 languages are represented,
including Mandarin Chinese, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish in
addition to English and other European languages.
There is a Seventeenth Century imperial manuscript scroll in
colored silk, and engravings from 1725 documenting the ceremony
accompanying the arrival of the Russian delegation in the
Forbidden City.
The growth of St. Petersburg is represented in maps and rare
engravings depicting the majestic expanse of the city, including
fine prints by the Eighteenth Century artist and engraver Mikhail
Makhaev. In contrast to these are three late Eighteenth Century
etchings of the Moscow Kremlin by the Italian artist Francesco
Camporesi. A Dutch atlas (1703-1704) by hydrographer Cornelius
Cruys is open to the allegorical titlepage showing the foot of a
youthful Tsar Peter resting on the maroon and gold crescent
ensign of the Ottoman Empire, an allusion to Peter's capture of
the Crimean city of Azov from the Ottomans.
The section of the exhibition devoted to Catherine the Great's
reign is highlighted by "Diversity and Pleasure," a rare late
Eighteenth Century Russian manuscript collection of poetry and
prose inscribed to "Her Imperial Highness, Grand Duchess
Ekaterina Alekseevna," the empress-to-be. Many items illustrate
the pageantry of the court, among them an engraving depicting the
coronation banquet of Catherine II. Exemplifying Catherine's
largesse toward supporters is an Imperial Charter granting
privileges and lands. Richly illuminated, and displayed with box
and seal, this document is signed by the empress. Another of
Catherine's gifts is a splendid Altar Gospels - a book held aloft
during the liturgy to be seen by the entire congregation - given
to the Monastery of Aleksandro-Nevsky. Bound in gilded silver
with enameled medallions of Christ and the Evangelists surrounded
by green stones, it is a rare survivor of the Bolshevik
Revolution, when such objects were often stripped of their
precious jewels and metal ornaments, which were melted down.
Exhibition hours are Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 am to 7:30
pm; Thursday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. 212-869-8089 or
www.nypl.org.
