The Hermitage State Museum Redux

Stairway to Heaven

Taking advantage of my AAS trip to St. Petersburg to stay for the weekend, Mr. U joined me on Friday night and we stayed until Sunday.  There was no way I was going to miss another trip to the Hermitage State Museum!  This time we wandered mostly through the sculpture wing, discovering treasures that we had completely missed the last time.  Despite the lack of people in my images, I can assure you that the museum was very well attended that day.  In fact, below is a photo of a couple on a date.  Yes, I said a DATE.  She was reviewing the photos that he had taken of her posing on the staircase.  The way he kissed her after the photo shoot was definitely not paternal in nature.  *shudder*  This is not an uncommon sight here in Russia.

Who's your daddy?!

We started our visit in the Egyptian art section where Mr. U had to translate the information panels for me.  He wasn’t quite sure about a particular abbreviation so he approached one of the stern-looking docents who was sitting guard and asked her for clarification.  She seemed surprised that his Russian language skills were up to par and happily responded to his inquiry, confirming his hunch.  We were, indeed, standing in a room ogling artifacts that dated back 4000 years or more!  I don’t feel so old anymore but I do have to admit that some of the statues and sculptures are in better shape than I am...*blush*

Row, row, row your boat...

4 000 year old wooden "sar-co-FAY-gus"

The goddess Bastet

I wonder what is going on here?  It looks like a party.

Sumerian receipts and message spikes

Ancient Sumerian bas-relief detail

We tried, in vain it seems, to work our way back to the Rembrandt room but we somehow (imagine that) got lost along the way and found ourselves turned right around not knowing quite how to navigate and negotiate the complex palace layout.  What did I care?  It is a privilege to be surrounded by the incredible artwork hanging on the walls in this institution regardless of the galleries that you find yourself in.  We eventually found ourselves back in the ‘grand salon’ style rooms and I was once again dumbfounded by the sheer volume of masterworks on display.  Mr. U had reached his threshold by then and I couldn’t resist snapping the photo below -is that Mr. U or just someone who feels the same way?

Someone has had quite enough, I think...

We worked our way out through the Greek and Roman sculpture galleries, awestruck once again by the holdings of this vast museum.  During our previous visit this entire wing must have been closed as we did not recollect seeing any of these sculptures despite passing through these very same hallways (or so we thought)...

Medusa

Ecstasy

It must be love

Butterfly

Satyr -note the lecherous look on his face

Hercules

Pretty kitty playing nice with a bull

Purrrrrrr

After a quick nap (hey, it was a weekend getaway, I’m allowed to slack off), we headed out to our favourite Indian restaurant for dinner -conveniently located a 7 minute walk from the hotel- for the best butter chicken в мире (in the whole world). http://www.tandoor-spb.ru/  What can I say?  We are creatures of habit.