Archive for Russia
The Malachite Hall
The Malachite Hall is one of the gala rooms in the Winter Palace. It was decorated by Alexander Brullov (1798-1877) and two of his students Alexey Gornostaev and Alexander L’vov in project in 1839. The technique of “Russian mosaic” was applied to design the Malachite Hall. Bright green Ural malachite and gilding makes the room elegant and original. The pillars, fireplaces, tables, vases are decorated with malachite. More than 133 poods (1pood=16,38 kg) of malachite was used to adorn the room. Malachite is the most famous of the Russian decorative stones. First malachite was first found in 1635 in Ural foothills. In 1702 malachite was discovered at Gumeshevskoe mine, it was found to be suited for decoration. The owner of the mine Turchaninov presented Catherine II a lump of malachite weighing 1504 kg, which she gave to Institute of Mines’ museum. The lump is still there. The malachite is the result of copper ore oxidation. The thin layer of gilding covers vases, doors, mirrors’ frames, and ornamental patterns on a ceiling.
The Knights’ Hall in the Hermitage museum
When you visit the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg one of the most impressive exhibitions you will find is in the Knight’s Hall. The Hermitage museum contains a vast collection of west-european armament. There are around 8 000 items from Germany, France, Spain and Italy. The exhibition is based on the imperial collection that was given to the museum in 1885. The collection gives us the opportunity to trace the development of armour and weapons from the 15th thru 17th centuries. Near the entrance you can see the knights’ armament of the 15th century. The chain armour was to protect from stabing, the helmet with slits for eyes protected the head and upper part of the face. Chain armour was very heavy and became hot in the sunlight and would rust in water. The three-edged blade was created to pierce the chains and do harm the warriors. That led the armourers to invent a solid plate armour. It covered almost the whole body with flexible jointed plates. This type of armour is presented in the Knights’ Hall too. It was made in Augsburg by Lorenzo Helmschmidt in the first half of the 15th century. The weight of the armour was on average 16-20 kg. The hauberk and weapons added extra weight (two swords, spear, battle-axe, battle hammer or mace). There was also the armour for horses to protect them during the battle. So the overall weight of the armament was between 40 and 80 kg. The knights had to be very physically strong and enduring. Warriors participated in tournaments. Battle weapons caused severe injuries and later special weapons were created for tournaments. Their equipment and weapons helped them to perfect their skills. In the Knights’ Hall you will see swords (4-7 kg), halberds, crossbows and arrows.