State Hermitage Museum, December 9, 2011 - February 26, 2012
Halls of Byzantium and the Middle East

In the halls of Byzantium and the Middle East, the State Hermitage Museum exhibition "Architecture in Islamic art. Treasures of the Aga Khan's collection. " The exhibition features 100 works of art from the collection of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, scheduled to open in 2013. Aga Khan Museum - a new scientific institution, whose purpose is collecting, study and exhibition of fine arts of the Islamic civilization. He willingly shares with other art museums in Europe and Asia. The exhibition "Architecture in Islamic art. Treasures of the Aga Khan's collection "will be held by a unique route - the European capital of Peter the Great to the multicultural center of Southeast Asia: The State Hermitage Museum, the Museum of Islamic Art in Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, and the Museum of Oriental civilizations in Singapore.

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Mukarnas. XV or XVI Ends in. Spain tree, carving Source: hermitagemuseum.org

< div class = "imgcenter"> Emperor Dzhaganhir in the window at the fort of Agra Dzhharoka leaf from a manuscript Dzhaganhir-name (The Book of Dzhaganhire) picture attributed to Nadir al-Zaman (Abul Hasan) and later the manuscript was divided into separate sheets. About 1620. India, Agra Watercolour, ink, gold Source: hermitagemuseum.org

Islamic architecture prevailed in the vast territory covering today about 40 countries with a Muslim majority. Era head of the Islamic civilization was marked by the flowering of art and architecture: buildings constructed in the great Islamic empires, stand alongside the greatest monuments of civilization. The exposition, combining items - details of buildings and their images in the manuscript, to understand how these structures convey the unity of architecture and other art forms.

< div class = "imgcenter"> Kilga. XII in. (?) Egypt, Cairo (?) Marble, carving Source: hermitagemuseum.org

daughter Haftvada and worm L. 521 of the text part of the lost manuscript of Shahnameh (Book of kings), Ferdowsi, written for the Shah Tahmasp, with Arabic inscription: "Dust Muhammad painted this picture." About 1540 Iran Tebris Watercolour, ink, gold Source: hermitagemuseum.org

The exhibition includes artifacts several categories - mainly architectural details: ornaments, many different tiles, structural elements of the famous stalactite-mukarnasov, wooden poles, brackets and cornices, column capitals, carved and inlaid doors. Many other details shown in the miniatures, images of buildings, executed in various styles and traditions: the patterns on the domes and walls, pictures vymostok and sidewalks, the details of carpets and brocade curtains. A special section of the exhibition is devoted to the relationship of architecture with decorated hand-written page.

Candlestick. XII or XIII End of. Khorasan (now Iran, Afghanistan) copper, engraving, embossing Source: hermitagemuseum.org

Moses regrets his generosity toward incontinent person (fragment). L. 93 vol. of the manuscript Kulliyat (Collected Works) Saadi Ok. 1604. Mughal India Watercolour, ink, gold Source: hermitagemuseum.org < /a>

With multilevel exhibited works can be put down an idea of ​​what was the appointment of the exposed parts and fragments of buildings. A lot of articles related to Islamic architecture, from completely different materials - bronze, textiles, ceramics, wood - and going from almost all regions of the Islamic world, complement the architectural concept of the exhibition. The viewer can get acquainted with the topography of the shrines of Mecca and Medina, as well as spaces designated for recreation monarchs and their court.

curator of the exhibition - Anton Pritula, head of the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East Division East of the State Hermitage, the candidate of philological science.

the exhibition published by the State Hermitage A scholarly catalog, which included art director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky.

Source : hermitagemuseum.org