Museum of Fine Arts Egyptian Hall. Egyptian mummies from the collection of the Pushkin Museum are being studied at the Kurchatov Institute with the help of modern technology. The cost of excursions and entrance tickets to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts for Russian

An interesting study was started at the Kurchatov Institute, the same institute that was created by Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov, the father of the Soviet atomic bomb. Study Egyptian mummies with the most modern technology. The mummies were taken from the museum. This is a joint project of the Kurchatov Institute and the Pushkin Museum.

Scientists hope to get new information about the distant past. What did people in ancient Egypt get sick with, what were they treated for, how did they eat. Better understand how they lived thousands of years ago. Let's hope that after these high-tech exercises, the mummies do not come to life.

The world gets used to modern technologies quite quickly. No one is surprised that a CT scanner can tell literally everything about a patient.

“Before you is the cocoon of this mummy. And you can see the details with X-ray tomography. You see, the whole picture appears before you. Well, now from here you can do a complex of anthropological, medical, forensic, genetic, chemical, physical and chemical studies, and so on. That is, a new planet is opening before you,” says Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

President of the Kurchatov Institute Mikhail Kovalchuk does not exaggerate - hundreds of books have been written about the life of the ancient Egyptians, and they contain thousands of versions of the development of civilization, about which archaeologists have been arguing for decades, based on rare finds and fragments of descriptions of a thousand years ago, and now something appears that can be literally touch - and even more. A 3D-printed model of the skull of an Egyptian mummy can, it turns out, tell an incredible amount.

“You can make an impression with a fundamentally new technological approach - time. The second thing, the next step is culture, we have it at a very high level - at the Institute of Ethnology, in particular, there was such Gerasimov, then Academician Alekseev, you can now restore the appearance, the face from the skull, this is the basis, for that we already we are taking the next step to restore the real appearance of the face,” explains Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

And it's not just a skull anymore. The Pushkin Museum admits that it was not easy to decide on such a project - priceless exhibits rarely leave the museum walls, and then a large-scale study - how not to worry? But already the first results turned the idea of ​​​​what had been before my eyes for so many years.

Paleogenetic studies are still ahead, they will tell even more. For the director of the Pushkin Museum, Marina Loshak, cooperation with the Kurchatov Institute was a real revelation - who would have thought what could be achieved by ending the eternal dispute between physicists and lyricists.

“Not every country has the opportunities that the Kurchatov Institute can provide us with the entire volume of a wide variety of knowledge. This is not only about modern installations and devices, not only about KATE and MRI. But the thing is, who are the scientists who are doing this research with them, thanks to which we can get an idea of ​​​​the person whom we now actually call the word mummy, about his structural features, about his illnesses, ”the director of the Pushkin Museum named after A. S. Pushkin Marina Loshak.

Diseases of the ancients is another discovery. Although we are separated by millennia, but, if you look at it, modern man has not gone so far from the Egyptian pharaohs.

“A completely new world is opening up that will help you and I better understand the nature of diseases, what is happening to us. You know, we often say that, say, osteochondrosis or periodontal disease is a disease of modern civilization. But, you see, these people, whom we now see in the form of mummies, they sometimes have pronounced what is called osteochondrosis or periodontal disease, and so on. That is, in fact, there are a lot of interesting things here,” Mikhail Kovalchuk notes.

There are so many that will be enough for dozens of scientific papers, and yet the project is still about halfway through. But it is already obvious now: visitors to the Pushkin Museum will soon see a completely different Egyptian hall, and the familiar word “mummy” will perhaps acquire a new meaning.

“The main revelation from an imaginative person is the visualization and idea that we are talking about a specific biological being that had its own life, its own context of life within this historical period. He had his own worries, his life traumas, he lived, he ceased to be just an object of art, or part of an object of art, or not just a museum exhibit. We brought the real life of a real person closer to us, ”said Marina Loshak.

This is what the lyricists got - physicists seem to think globally. For them, working with the Pushkin Museum, a place where artifacts of the past are kept, turned out to be, in a sense, a door to the future.

“Today we are with you at the paradigm shift in the development of science. Today we have a merging of humanitarian and natural scientific knowledge, which for 300 years has been divided into two independent branches. It would seem that the Kurchatov Institute, the place where the country's nuclear shield was created, nuclear submarines, and this searchlight is as bright as it once highlighted the contours of a nuclear breakthrough, in the same way it looks towards culture, art and living life. Because this is a kind of frozen, but living life once was, ”says Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Scientists have yet to do hundreds of analyzes and studies. The result of the joint project of the Pushkin Museum and the Kurchatov Institute will be an exhibition, it should open in 2019. Visitors are already promised here: there will be something to be surprised.

State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin or, as it is more commonly called, the Pushkin Museum is one of the most significant museums in Moscow, which has gathered within its walls a large collection of works of foreign art from the ancient world to the present day.

The Pushkin Museum opened its doors for the first time on May 31, 1912. Professor of Moscow University Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev became the inspirer and the first director. The initial collection was formed from copies of ancient sculptures and mosaics of the University Cabinet of Fine Arts and genuine antiquities, bought from the famous Egyptologist V.S. Golenishchev. Later, the halls were replenished with paintings transferred from other museums and works of art from private collections donated or confiscated after the revolution. Today, the collection of the Pushkin Museum contains more than 670,000 exhibits, of which only 1.5% are available for inspection.

Under the jurisdiction of the Pushkin Museum im. Pushkin Museum is a whole museum town located in the historical center of Moscow near the Kropotkinskaya metro station. It includes several buildings, including:

• Main building
• Gallery of European and American Art of the 19th-20th Centuries.
• Department of private collections
• Museum-apartment of Svyatoslav Richter
• Center for aesthetic education "Museion"
• Educational Art Museum. I.V. Tsvetaeva
• House of Graphics

The main building is an architectural monument with a powerful colonnade and a glass roof, built 100 years ago specifically for the museum.

The exposition here is located on two floors. The first contains authentic rarities of Ancient Egypt, ancient times, the golden treasures of Ancient Troy from the excavations of the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, paintings by European masters of the 8th-18th centuries, there is the Greek and Italian courtyards - large spaces with sculptures-casts. On the second floor, many rooms are given over to copies of art objects from Ancient Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In addition, original paintings by European artists are exhibited here.

The Egyptian Hall is one of the world's best collections of authentic items from the time of Ancient Egypt: mummies, sarcophagi, masks, figurines, jewelry and vessels.

Wooden sarcophagus of the nobleman Mahu, the holder of the plot of land of the temple of Amun:

Amenhotep and Rannai - priest and priestess of the god Amun:

Sarcophagus and mummy of Hor-Kha. In the foreground is the mummy of a cat:

The next room is dedicated to the art of the Ancient Near East.

Figurine of an adorant from Northern Mesopotamia. Adorant - a figurine made of stone or clay, which was placed in the temple so that she prayed for the person who placed it.

Halls of ancient art with a collection of Greek vases and amphorae, mosaics, sculptures and reliefs of Ancient Italy, Cyprus and Rome.

Antefix - ceramic tile with a mask of Medusa Gorgon:

Items from the excavations of Panticapaeum - the capital of the Chimerian Bosporus:

The theme of antiquity continues in the Greek courtyard - a large hall filled with casts of famous ancient Greek statues, reliefs and architectural fragments.

Sleeping Ariadne. The marble original is kept in the Vatican.

Another patio is Italian, with casts of masterpieces of the Renaissance.

The equestrian statue is a copy of the bronze monument to the commander-in-chief Bartolomeo Colleoni from Venice.

Michelangelo's famous David. The height of the sculpture is 5.5 meters.

One of the main gems of the Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin - a collection of works by Rembrandt and artists of his school is located in room number 10.

Rembrandt "Portrait of an Old Woman" and "Portrait of an Elderly Woman".

Exposition of paintings by Flemish painters of the 17th century - Rubens, Jordaens, Van Dyck, Brueghel.

Anthony van Dyck "Portrait of Adrian Stevens". Flemish master of the early 17th century "Portrait of a Lady with a Fan".

"Skating" by Hendrik Averkamp from the 17th century Dutch Art Hall.

Also on the ground floor, the permanent exhibition presents the art of Byzantium, Italy of the 13th-16th centuries, Germany and the Netherlands of the 15th-16th centuries.

Let's go up to the second floor.

Hall, called "Olympic", with casts of classical ancient Greek sculptures.

A copy of the sculpture "Lamentation of Christ" from the Michelangelo Buonarotti room. “Great fame and glory,” according to his contemporary, was acquired by this work of the great master.

Italian sculpture of the 15th century. The decoration of the hall used decorative elements in the style of the Early Renaissance.

The magnificent Tombstone of the Cardinal of Portugal by Rosselino Antonio. The original is in Florence in the church of San Miniato al Monte.

European Art of the Middle Ages.

Cultural heritage of Ancient Italy and Ancient Rome in casts. The masterpieces of this hall are the Capitoline Wolf, the bust of Marcus Aurelius, the sculpture "Victoria".

Greek Art of Late Classics and Hellenism. The colossal group "Farnese bull" - the original is stored in the archaeological museum of Naples.

Winged Nike of Samothrace and Aphrodite of Cnidus by the famous sculptor Praxiteles.

Of course, it is difficult to show all the halls and works - there are a lot of them, you can spend more than one hour visiting the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts.

You can take pictures for free, but there are a few rules: you can’t use a tripod and flash, it’s forbidden to take pictures at temporary exhibitions.

On the days of especially significant exhibitions, when masterpieces are brought from the collections of the best museums in the world, queues line up at the box office.

On Tuesday and Friday afternoons and Thursday evenings in the Main Building, the Gallery and the Private Collections Department there are Art Talks on 29 topics.

Since 1980 in the Museum. Pushkin, the annual music festival "December Evenings of Svyatoslav Richter" is held, during the year concerts are held in the halls.

Sightseeing and thematic tours are led around the permanent exhibition, you can take an audio guide, its cost is 250 rubles.

For more information, see the official website of the Pushkin Museum: arts-museum.ru

How to get to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

By public transport: Kropotkinskaya metro station, then 2 minutes on foot.

Address: Volkhonka street, 12.

Opening hours

• Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday - from 11-00 to 20-00
• Thursday, Friday - from 11-00 to 21-00

Monday - day off

Ticket prices for the main building

• Adults - 400 rubles
• Preferential categories - 200 rubles
• Children under 16 years old - free of charge

About 800 exhibits are exhibited in the hall of the art of Ancient Egypt, representing all periods of the history of the development of the country of the pharaohs, starting from the 4th millennium BC. until the 4th century BC These are wooden and stone sarcophagi, statues, reliefs, household items and funeral cult, mummies of people and animals, papyri, vessels and jewelry, figurines of deities and amulets. The hall itself is decorated with architectural elements typical of an ancient Egyptian temple: the ceiling is painted, false beams are supported by graceful columns in the form of a bunch of papyrus. This gives the hall a special atmosphere and immediately sets up the visitor to communicate with ancient Egyptian art.

The most ancient exhibits of the Egyptian collection of the Pushkin Museum are stone tools (c. VI - V millennium BC), as well as slate palettes and painted clay vessels of the Nagada cultures I - III (IV millennium BC). Along with rich and varied mass material - sacrificial gifts originating from tombs and intended for a prosperous life after death - the collection of the Pushkin Museum presents outstanding works of ancient Egyptian art (the upper part of the statue of King Amenemhat III of the Middle Kingdom, the statuettes of the priest Amenhotep and the priestess Rannai, the cosmetic spoon of the New kingdoms, etc.).

Most of the objects on display in the hall have been on display since the opening of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1912 and form the core of one of the world's finest private collections of ancient Egyptian art. We are talking about the Russian orientalist Vladimir Semenovich Golenishchev (1856 - 1947). His collection of approx. 8 thousand items, became the first museum acquisition of originals in 1909. In 1913, the museum bought a collection of monuments from a major Moscow collector L.I.Ginzburg, including a relief block depicting mourners. Y.S. Nechaev-Maltsov brought several truly precious gifts to the museum: these are excellent Fayum portraits, a golden diadem and a statue of Harpocrates. After the October Revolution, the Egyptian collection was replenished with exhibits transferred from various museums and private collections. The Egyptian monuments belonging to them and scientists, whose activities were inextricably linked with the museum, were presented to the Department of the Ancient East - B.V. Farmakovskiy, T.N. Borozdina-Kozmina, A.V. Zhivago. The collection of the museum was significantly enriched after the acquisition in 1940 from N.A. Prakhov of the collection of his father, philologist and art critic A.V. Prakhov, numbering 217 exhibits. In subsequent years, the collection was replenished through donations, archaeological excavations, and periodic purchases.

The first exposition of the hall of Ancient Egypt, timed to coincide with the opening of the Museum of Fine Arts, was made by the outstanding Russian Egyptologist Boris Aleksandrovich Turaev (1868 - 1920), the second, post-war, by Professor Vsevolod Vladimirovich Pavlov (1899 - 1972). This exposition opened in 1969. Its inspirer and organizer was the head of the Department of the Ancient East, Doctor of Arts Svetlana Izmailovna Khodzhash (1923 - 2008).

The monuments in the hall are arranged in chronological order, starting with the most ancient - stone tools of the 6th - 5th millennium BC. (?), slate palettes and painted clay vessels of the Nagada I-III culture (IV millennium BC). Various forms of pottery and the presence of paintings give an idea of ​​the high level of development of the artistic craft of this era. A rare exhibit is a clay dish depicting a hunter in a mask holding four dogs on a leash. All items were found in burials and are evidence of the ritual practice of the Predynastic period. Already at this time, the main features of ancient Egyptian art are manifested: conditionality by religious ideas, conventionality, symbolism, monumentality, which were fully developed after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt into a single state (end of the 4th millennium BC) - in the period Ancient Kingdom (XXVIII-XXIII centuries BC).

The Old Kingdom is the time of the first flowering of Egyptian architecture, the finalization of the pictorial canon, which Egyptian masters will adhere to for several millennia. In the same period, one of the greatest achievements of art appears - a sculptural portrait. The principles of decoration of tombs with wall relief images, as well as the features of the transfer of a human figure and objects on a plane, are illustrated by a series of blocks from the tombs of the “head of the royal treasury” Isi, the Egyptian Merit, the Egyptian Tepemankh (all - c. 25th century BC), “ gardener of the pyramid of King Pepi II "Khiiu (c. XXIII century BC)

The fine art of the ancient Egyptians was inextricably linked with religious beliefs and the requirements of the funeral cult. In particular, the portrait similarity of the image with the person being portrayed was due to the belief that each person has a “double”, or “Ka” - a certain vital essence, which, being immortal, should have a permanent home in any image of the deceased. The idea that all monuments were intended for eternity and should not contain anything accidental, fleeting, determined the features of the conditional artistic language of Egyptian plastic art: isolation and indivisibility of volume, static, lack of excessive detail. Reliefs and statues of the 5th-6th dynasty (case No. 6) and a separate sculptural group of the official Uja-dzher with his wife are illustrative examples of the embodiment of the canonical rules for depicting a person in sculptural images.

Showcase 6 contains individual items that were placed in the tomb, and a unique exhibit - the mask of Pepi II (XXII century BC, VI dynasty), brought by V.S. Golenishchev from excavations at the site of the pyramid of this king.

The Middle Kingdom (XXII-XVIII centuries BC) is represented by such masterpieces as the portrait of King Amenemhat III (XIX century BC) and the stele of the “great steward” Henenu (XXI-XX century BC .) from pinkish limestone.

The upper part of the statue of Amenemhat III brilliantly illustrates the best features of the sculptural portrait of the Middle Kingdom during its heyday - an interest in the individual and age characteristics of a person. The viewer can also see small examples of sculptural works (showcase No. 9), including a portrait of King Senusret II.

Two showcases exhibit items from the tombs of the Middle Kingdom, necessary for the deceased in the afterlife - wooden models of funerary barges and figurines of servants (showcase No. 10), as well as "magic wands", magical female figurines, animal-shaped palettes, small vessels made of stone (Showcase No. 9).

The art of the New Kingdom (XVI-XI centuries BC) bears the imprint of the triumph of the Egyptian state after the expulsion of the Hyksos from the country.

The art of this extended period is characterized, on the one hand, by the strengthening of realistic tendencies, interest in the depiction of nature, the desire to convey movement, and, on the other hand, an increase in decorativeness, refinement and, at the same time, formalization of the artistic language. These qualities are clearly visible in the monuments of the periods of the reign of the pharaohs Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (XIV century BC): in faience vessels and inlays of walls and furniture from Amarna, cosmetic spoons, playing chips, small figurines, as well as in the portrait of a young man from limestone. Exquisite beauty distinguishes one of the collection's masterpieces - a cosmetic spoon in the shape of a pink lotus flower, with a handle in the shape of a floating girl. An excellent quality wooden spoon in the form of a girl among thickets of papyrus, a wooden oval box with a retractable lid inlaid with faience inserts are wonderful examples of the art of ancient Egyptian wood carving masters.

The indisputable masterpiece of the Egyptian collection of the Pushkin Museum is the paired sculptural group of the priest Amenhotep and his wife, the priestess Rannai, dating from the reign of Hatshepsut. The figurines are made of rare ebony, imported to Egypt from the southern regions of Africa, the eyes of the spouses are inlaid with vitreous paste. Slender figures, thin limbs, the presence of exquisite details - gilded jewelry and a luxurious female wig - convey to us all the unique and recognizable beauty of the best works of ancient Egyptian art.

Showcase No. 14 exhibits a relief from a private tomb of the end of the 18th century. in Saqqara depicting the mourning of the deceased. The dynamic composition, the depiction of human figures in complex angles give this fragment of the funeral procession drama and expressiveness.

The funeral rite, which played a huge role in the religion of the Egyptians, caused the appearance of various objects directly related to the funeral cult and ideas about the fate of the deceased after death. These are sarcophagi, canopies (vessels for storing the embalmed entrails of the deceased), funeral masks, ushebti figurines and boxes for their storage, figurines of gods. In one of the showcases there is a swaddled mummy of the priest Khor-ha, covered with a net of faience beads, and the head of a woman's mummy, as well as the mummies of sacred animals - a cat and a falcon. Nearby, on the podium, there is a set of canopic canopies with lids in the form of the heads of the sons of the god Horus. The sarcophagi exhibited in the hall belong to different eras, starting from the 3rd millennium BC. (a simple clay box, on the lid of which there is a relief image of a boy in a fetal position). The brightest, fully painted, sarcophagi belong to the time of the New Kingdom and are exhibited in the central part of the hall. Two stone sarcophagi belong to the second half of the 1st millennium BC.

Several showcases display numerous gods from the Egyptian pantheon. They are made of bronze, stone (statues of Osiris in showcases No. 24 and No. 26), small figurines of gods made of carnelian and rock crystal (showcase No. 12). The figurine of Nefertum, the god of vegetation, is cast from silver (showcase No. 18), and the sacred ibis of the god Thoth (showcase No. 12) is made of white stone, with a bronze head and paws. All figurines are of high quality casting and fine detailing.

A significant part of the monuments are alabaster vessels, faience bowls, painted earthenware jugs, bronze situlas (ritual vessels) and mirrors, bronze weapons, jewelry made of semi-precious stones and Egyptian faience.

The Late Period (I millennium BC) includes statues and sculptural portraits (showcase No. 26). Among them stands out the granite statue of the queen, whose face has pronounced portrait features (the first half of the 7th century BC). Made of hard stone, the portraits of the period of the Sais dynasty (second half of the 7th-6th centuries BC) imitate ancient models and betray the masters' desire for perfection of form and perfect processing of the stone surface. The Sais period was the time of a new flourishing of artistic crafts.

The so-called "sculptor's corner" allows you to get an idea of ​​the process of creating reliefs and sculptural works by Egyptian masters: here you can see unfinished reliefs or copies made by students, as well as drawings on pieces of limestone (ostrac).

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The collection of Egyptian originals came to the museum from St. Petersburg academician Vladimir Semyonovich Golenishchev. V.S. Golenishchev was a scientist, an archaeologist, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition from the State Hermitage and acted as an overseer of the work. In parallel, he collected a collection for himself. The St. Petersburg collection was collected during excavations, so its items are accurately dated, attributed and tied to one or another tomb. And for himself, V.S. Golenishchev bought items on the "black market". Therefore, they were neither attributed nor dated. Later, scientists determined the age of the monuments and belonging to a particular tomb in parallel with other similar artifacts.

In 1909, Golenishchev went bankrupt and was forced to sell his collection. But, despite lucrative offers from different countries, the scientist wanted his collection to remain in Russia, so he sold it to the imperial treasury for a smaller amount. Moreover, the first half of the amount was paid to him immediately, the second was promised to be paid later, but they never paid the scientist, as we usually do in Russia.

They decided to send the collection to Moscow, because the Hermitage already had a collection of Egyptian art. As a result, the Moscow collection turned out to be even better than the one exhibited in the Hermitage. It is smaller in number of items, but their quality is much higher. After all, V.S. Golenishchev tried to ensure that every epoch, every phenomenon in Egyptian culture, was represented by some kind of object. That is why the collection of Egyptian antiquities in the Pushkin Museum, although smaller, is better than the Hermitage collection. It is currently the best collection of Egyptian art in Russia. And it became the first collection of originals in the museum.

Hall No. 1, where the monuments of Ancient Egypt are now exhibited, was specially rebuilt for the collection of V.S. Golenishchev. His collection came to the museum when it was still under construction.

The ceiling is supported by ancient Egyptian-style columns imitating bundles of papyrus. The whole architecture of the hall goes back to one of the halls of the ancient Egyptian temple. To imagine the atmosphere of the ancient sanctuary, Roman Ivanovich Klein traveled to Egypt, visited and examined the temples. In particular, he drew attention to the temple of Amun in Luxor and was primarily guided by it. The windows were curtained because the hall of the Egyptian temple did not allow for natural light. Above, on the ceiling, there is a repeatedly repeated image of a bird with outstretched wings, this is the image of the sky goddess Nut.


The ceiling is also painted under the starry sky.

One of the halls of the Egyptian temple actually reproduced nature on the banks of the Nile, a mountain of royal papyri.
I.V. Tsvetaev specifically asked R.I. Klein to make a hall in this style so that the visitor not only looked at individual objects, but also felt the atmosphere of Ancient Egypt. In addition, the museum was originally planned as an educational one, and its purpose was to give students an idea not only about painting, sculpture and small plastic arts, but also about architecture.

About the collection. The re-exposition in the hall took place several years ago, in 2012. Some monuments ended up in the funds, while others, on the contrary, were put up. Currently, about a third of the existing collection is represented, that is, most of the Egyptian antiquities are in storerooms.

MONUMENTS
Sarcophagus and mummy of Hor-Kha. It is curious that this mummy cannot be photographed in any way, x-rays are never obtained. The mummy "does not want" to reveal its secrets. This is the mummy of the priest Khor-Kha, he died in the 2nd millennium BC.

The mummy is in a horizontal display case to the right of the entrance to the hall

How did the Egyptians embalm a mummy? There are many recipes and all of them, in fact, come down to the same technology: an incision was made in the side of a dead body. The ego was made by a specially trained person, who was called a "paraschist" (ripper). The body of a deceased person was considered sacred and therefore, on the one hand, the paraschist was hired by the relatives of the deceased and paid him money for making an incision on his side. On the other hand, as soon as the paraschist made an incision, he ran away as fast as he could. The people who hired him were now running after him and throwing stones at him for committing such sacrilege.

Then, through the incision, the insides were taken out, which were washed, placed in special vessels filled with embalming substances. Such vessels are in the collection of the museum, they are located in a vertical display case behind the mummy of Khor-Kha, in the corner, almost opposite the entrance to the hall).


All cavities in the body were also filled with embalming agents. The body was placed in "natron" - a kind of soda. Natron pulled all the moisture out of the body and the process of mummification began. The body was dried up, so it could no longer decay. He was wrapped in linen bandages and placed in a sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus of the priest Hor-Ha is not the best and not the most beautiful in the collection. The best is Mahu's sarcophagus.

Sarcophagus of Mahu.

It repeats the shape of a mummy, the tomb narrows towards the feet. A mask was always placed on the sarcophagus, which was supposed to indicate the face of the deceased. It is to designate, not to depict. Because regardless of who was buried - an old man, a girl, a woman, a young or old person - the mask was always the same. The face of the mask was painted with wide-open eyes, underlined with black or dark blue paint.

The Egyptians believed that when the soul reconnects with the body, it must enter the sarcophagus through the eyes. For this, the body was preserved, mummified.

Mahu's sarcophagus is a brilliant example of ancient Egyptian art. It is made of wood, this material was highly valued in ancient Egypt, there was not much wood. The black color of the sarcophagus emphasizes the radiance of the gilding. The gilding, the subtlety of the details indicates that this is a sarcophagus of a very rich man, made by the best craftsmen.

Undoubtedly, the best Egyptian craftsmen also made wooden statues of Amenhotep and his wife Rannai. These figures, on the one hand, connect the traditions of Egyptian art.

Amenhotep and his wife, the "singer of Amun", Rannai, are the priests of the temple of the sun god.

The Egyptians have always depicted people in a frozen posture of wide stride with straight legs. It's not quite lifelike, because while walking, the knees bend. Here the legs are straight, the arms are extended along the body and pressed to it. The left arm of Rannai is bent at the elbow and also pressed to the body. The rule here is combined with a very subtle psychologism. The figure of a man is tall, he is broad-shouldered. He walks confidently, his head held high and open. He is a priest, so he does not wear a wig and his hair does not darken his face, it is brightly lit. He turns his head slightly to the left. He seems to resist the rule that the person portrayed had to look straight ahead. The figure of his wife is thin, fragile, she minces her feet finely in her narrow dress, in contrast to her husband's wide step. Her face is slightly lowered, a shadow from her hair falls on her face. On the right side, the hair was not preserved, but they were also there. A dreamy, enigmatic expression appears on the woman's face. This is how the Egyptians imagined the ideal man and the ideal woman. A man is strong and determined, a woman is fragile, thin, mysterious. And this is the beauty of Egyptian art. On the one hand, it has strict rules, on the other hand, within these rules there can be a very subtle and refined psychological characteristic.

In addition to wood, the Egyptians were very fond of ivory, and even more - stone.
Cosmetic spoon. The masterpiece of the museum is a small bone spoon, it is known all over the world. This is the finest work of ivory. The spoon is intended for cosmetics.

It is a box for storing cosmetics, it can be opened. The box is made in the form of a floating girl with a lotus flower in her hands. In addition to painted and unpainted ivory, beech wood was used here; the girl’s wig was made from this material. Such a thin, elegant thing may have been used in the everyday life of rich people, or perhaps it was ritual. It comes, of course, from the tomb.

A feature of ancient Egyptian culture in the form in which it has come down to us is that objects do not come from houses or from palaces, but from tombs. This is the best that the Egyptians wanted to take with them to the afterlife.

It also represents the Middle Kingdom era in Egyptian art. The name suggests that this is the middle of the existence of the ancient Egyptian kingdom - the 2nd millennium BC. At this time, special attention in Egyptian art is paid to portrait images.

The sculptures of Amenemhat III are interesting in that quite a lot of them have been preserved.

The pharaoh ruled long enough, he founded the Fayum oasis in Egypt. He was depicted repeatedly, at different ages, his image can be found in various museums - in Berlin, in the Hermitage. From his portraits, one can observe how the appearance of the pharaoh changed with age. In the Pushkin Museum, Amenemhat III is presented not as an old man, but not as a young man either. If you look closely, you can see bags under the eyes, heavy, hanging eyelids, wrinkled lips, that is, the pharaoh is far from being young. But his head is attached to the body of a young and strong youth, since the pharaoh in Ancient Egypt was considered a god and the personification of Egypt and always had to be portrayed as strong and young. Therefore, here, on the one hand, there is a portrait image, and on the other, the deification of the pharaoh, represented in the body of a young and strong youth, who is no different from the gods.

On this conversation about Egyptian art can be completed, we saw the masterpieces of the hall. If you have time, you can show relief of the head of the treasury Isi. ( Relief. Limestone. Middle of the 3rd millennium BC e.)

There are several relief images of the treasurer of Pharaoh Isi. It should be emphasized that the Egyptians used strict rules when depicting a person. The shoulders of a person are turned to the front, the head has a complex turn. In fact, it is absolutely impossible to roll the eye the way it is depicted. The person looks directly at us, that is, the eye is depicted in front, while the head is turned in profile. Such an image showed that the depicted person was alive, that he was capable of movement.

When the Egyptians depicted a mummy, not a living body, then in the compositions dedicated to the burial, the mummy was depicted either strictly in front or strictly in profile. The complex image of Treasurer Isi emphasized that the person was alive, and therefore collected different points of view. What is considered unrealistic for us, from their point of view, was perfect realism, an indication that this is a living person.

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is preparing to celebrate its centenary. On this occasion, the exposition is updated and something that the public has never seen before is taken from the storerooms. "Your Dosug" walked around the halls of the museum and found out why go to the building with columns on Volkhonka and why the permanent exhibition of the Pushkin Museum is not permanent.

Next to each other are the mummy of a cat, the mummy of a bird and the mummy of a woman's head. We are in the very first and, perhaps, the most important hall of the museum. At least that's what the kids think. It is here - in the Egyptian Hall - that they usually resort first of all, closely examining the mummies and sarcophagi and completely ignoring the masterpieces of Rubens and Rembrandt exhibited nearby. However, for the fifth month now, no child has set foot here. Halls No. 1 (the art of ancient Egypt) and No. 2 (the art of ancient civilizations) have been closed since October for repairs and reconstruction. The doors are guarded by a formidable policeman. For greater persuasiveness, the caretaker looks sternly from a nearby chair. There is also a sign informing about the reconstruction. Triple protection in front of the gates to the afterlife. It is really better for children not to enter here yet. Scientists are arguing behind the door - so hot that the basalt figurines of pharaohs are about to turn red. The curator and the designer discuss the correct arrangement of the exhibits. There were much more of them in the Egyptian Hall. Numerous vessels for incense, cosmetic spoons, dishes and household items were taken out of the storerooms. “Now it will be clear how and how the Egyptians lived,” says Alexandra Stepina, curator and deputy head of the museum's aesthetic education department.

Immured Masterpieces

Secrets of Pushkinsk. Source: Secrets of Pushkinsk.

In the hall of ancient civilizations, an Assyrian relief was taken out of the wall, which had been immured in it for almost half a century. In 1969, Indira Gandhi brought a unique exposition of ancient Indian sculpture as a gift to Moscow. No free walls were found in the museum, but you need to place the exhibits, whether you like it or not. In a couple of days, plywood walls were erected, where the previous exhibits were immured. And outside they placed a gift from the then Prime Minister of India. However, now visitors will see everything at once, and in addition, dozens of new exhibits. But first they still need to be properly arranged. Here again there is controversy. But the last word will still be with Irina Antonova. The permanent director of the museum inspects each hall herself. And makes adjustments. As she says, so be it. However, it is not surprising. No one knows the museum better than her. After all, it is she who manages half of the century-old history of the museum. She initiates all the changes in the seemingly unchanged permanent exhibition.

About the benefits of copies

In recent years, the museum has significantly changed and expanded. A few years ago, all the Impressionists and works of the 20th century were taken out of the main building of Pushkinsky. Now Manet, Monet, Degas, Chagall and Renoir "live" in a separate building on the left - the Gallery of Art of Europe and America of the 19th-20th centuries. Personal collections live on the right side of the main building - in a yellow mansion at Volkhonka, 10. A little further away is the Museyon Center, where the younger generation is taught.

As a result of all these rearrangements, a lot of free space appeared on the floors of the main building. On this occasion, the exposition was decided to be updated. The collection of prolific small Dutchmen and no less prolific Italians has increased significantly. The arrangement has also changed - before it was rather chaotic, it has become clear and understandable. The exhibits scattered throughout the halls were brought together, uniting, for example, Rembrandt and his school in one hall and building the inspection strictly chronologically. We pass the right wing of the second floor, mostly filled with copies and casts of various sculptures, beginning with antique ones.

Secrets of Pushkinsk. Source: Secrets of Pushkinsk.

- It just seems that the copy is worse than the original. Over time, a copy becomes valuable, - explains Alexandra Stepina. - Do you see a copy of the reliquary of St. Gertrude? So, the original is long gone. People come from all over the world to see her. There are other copies that only we have left, and the originals died in World War II.

- That is, wars, tsunamis, revolutions work for the benefit of museums?

Sounds cynical, but that's the way it is. If originals disappear from other collections, then our copies will become priceless.

How the Bishop Was Healed

The curator of the museum has been taking the photographer and me through the halls for the second hour. Talking about the museum in the way you need to talk about it - with interest and details. Tour guides can tell a lot about what is not written on the information plates.

For example, that the boring Dutchman Jan Van Der Heyden from the 11th hall is not just an artist, but also the inventor of the hose (which, you see, gives him charm). And the brooch from Troy exhibited in the 3rd hall, although valuable, is not as valuable as the lens that is pointed at it - after all, it is 4000 years old. Only from the guides you can find out that the weighty pedestal in the center of the Italian courtyard, on which a Christmas tree is erected on New Year's Eve, is the shaft of the old ventilation system. Or that the unpainted pieces of the walls were deliberately left in order to restore the historical (still Tsvetaevsky) color during the next reconstruction. We enter one of the halls with European paintings. Alexandra brings us to the painting.