The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT

most notable acquIsItIons of 2010
mulian’s descenT inTo The undeRwoRld
Illuminated manuscript; 3 vols. (Vol. 2 is missing)
China, 1440
Paper pasted on carton, ink, watercolours;
roughly rubbed up blue paint; later binding made of blue fabric
pasted over carton, “butterfly” format
Cover size 40 × 18.5 cm
Illumination size 30 × 16.3 and 30 × 32.6 cm
Acquired through the Purchasing Commission
Vol. 1: 57 sheets of Chinese character text with illuminations,
including 18 double-page and 16 single-page illustrations.
Vol. 3: 41 sheets of Chinese character text with illuminations,
including 14 double-page and 10 single-page illustrations.
Vol. 4: 51 sheets of Chinese character text with illuminations,
including 12 double-page and 3 single-page illustrations.
Each page is framed on top and at the bottom with a double
red line painted with a brush. The end of each section
is decorated with naively painted floral designs. The title
of the whole manuscript appears in Vol. 1 and is repeated
on the penultimate page of Vol. 4: “A precious scroll concerning
Mulian’s descent into hell in order to save his mother,
and her emerging from the underworld and achieving a supreme
rebirth in heaven”. The last page of Vol. 4 bears the
following text in an ornamental cartouche: “In the fifth year
of the reign of Zhengtong of the Great Dynasty of Ming I offer
this to the Emperor’s concubine from the family of...” (the
family name character is erased and illegible). The fifth year
of Zhengtong Emperor (1436–1449) of the Ming Dynasty
(1368–1644) corresponds to the year 1440 in our reckoning.
The manuscript retells a story in the bianwen genre of tales
based on the sutras and explaining their content in a didactic
manner. The text was first written down in the 10th century
and became part of a bianwen collection from Dunhuang
published in Beijing (Dunhuang Bianwen. 4 vols. Beijing,
1984. Vol. 2: 701–756, also mentioned in N. Borevskaya’s article
“Moreplavateli v mire duxov. Kitajskij zagrobnyj mir i jego
osmyslenije v romane 16 veka [Seafarers in the Ghost World:
the Chinese World of the Dead and Its Conceptualization in
Sixteenth-Century Novels]”, which deals with descriptions
of the underworld in chapters 87–92 of the late sixteenthcentury
novel by Lo Mao-teng The Voyage of Zheng He over the
Indian Ocean (in Izučenije kitajskoj literatury v SSSR [The Study
of Chinese Literature in the USSR]. Moscow, 1973: 121–141).
Since few analogues to this manuscript are known, the cartouche
with the inscription is important for its dating. Such
a cartouche is extant in Vol. 1, with the text reading “Ten
thousand years to the Emperor” repeated three times. Similar
cartouches are found in the Khara-Khoto writings – Tangut
characters with the name of the sutra written on paper,
as well as cartouches in Korean editions of the sutras which
reproduced Chinese texts and were printed from Chinese
woodcuts. The authenticity of the manuscript is corroborated
by the lack of aniline pigments and the use of natural
dyes. Similar colours (red and green with gold) can be
found in pictorial scrolls of the same period.
By Kira Samosiuk
22
J acQuiSiTionS of The STaTe hermiTage muSeum in 2010
weSTern european fine arTS
deparTmenT
Gifts:
SculpTure
Wolfgang Eichwede
Madonna and Child
Germany (?), late 15th – early 16th century
Gilding, painting, carving, gesso on wood
graphic worKS
Ye. Tatuzov (Yantarny Dom JSC)
Yury Velten (1730–1801)
Main Façade of the North Pavilion, the Small
Hermitage
Russia, 1760s – 1770s
Quill, ink, watercolour on paper
Yury Velten (1730–1801)
The North Pavilion, the Small Hermitage.
Vertical section
Russia, 1760s – 1770s
Quill, ink, watercolour on paper
Yuri Velten (1730–1801)
Toilet Room – One of the Rooms in Catherine II’s
Bath in the Winter Palace
Russia, 1760s – 1770s
Quill, ink, watercolour on paper
Through the Purchasing Commission:
painTing
Isaak von dem Block (after 1572–1626)
The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth
Germany, early 17th century
Isaak von dem Block (after 1572–1626)
The Annunciation
Germany, early 17th century
Antonio Marini (1668–1725)
Seaside Landscape
Venice, late 17th – early 18th century
August Querfurt (1696–1761)
Hunters Outside a Tavern
Austria, later than 1720s
Meffren Conte (c. 1630–1705)
Still Life with a Shell
France, late 17th century
graphic worKS
Wilhelm Friedrich Hirt (1721–1772)
Summer
Germany, 18th century
Wilhelm Friedrich Hirt (1721–1772)
Autumn
Germany, 18th century
Ottavio Leoni (1574–1626)
Portrait of the Malta Knight Thomas Stilianus
Western Europe, 1624
Willem Hondius (1597–1660)
Portrait of the King of Bohemia Friedrich V
Western Europe, 1631
Anonymous engraver of the German school (?)
Portrait of Joseph I of Hungary
Western Europe, first half of the 18th century
Jost Amman (1539–1591)
Portrait of Gaspard de Coligny
Western Europe, 1573
Anonymous engraver
After a drawing by Francesco Salviati
Golgotha
Italy, 1541
Jacques Couché (1750 or 1759 – c. 1810)
After the original of Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Mock Flight
1783
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901)
Mary Hamilton
France, 1894–1896
Marc Chagall (1889–1985)
A Shepherd and His Flock
(illustration to La Fontaine’s Fables)
France, c. 1930
BooKS and documenTS
Books from the library of Yuri Kuznetzov
and Irina Linnik
141 publications altogether
Klatovský, Ondřej z Dalmanhorstu (c. 1504–1551)
Knijžka w Cžekém a Nemeckém Jazyku
složená…
[Praha: Jirži Melantrich], 1577. CLI, [1]
Owner’s pamphlet volume – a collection
of printed works dating from the Reformation
Germany, 1555–1556; binding of 1556
Concionum dispositions in epistolas
dominicales…
[Wittenberg: Simonis Gronenbergius], 1584.
[8], 726 p., [1]
weSTern european applied arTS
deparTmenT
Gifts:
applied arTS
M. Kryzhanovskaya
Casket-shaped bonbonniere with a sailing
ship on the lid
Holland, 17th – 18th century
Painting, enamel on copper
Ivory knob shaped as a lady’s hand
Germany, Erbach, 1860s – 1870s
Carved bone
Collar with a pattern of alternating large rose
flowers and oval medallions linked with garlands
of beads and flowers
Western Europe, second half of the 19th century
Satin stitch and openwork embroidery (machine?)
on mesh, silk
Kerchief with a pattern of agrimony along
the perimeter; on the four corners a picture
of 1908 Scottish National Exhibition pavilions
Western Europe, 1908
Silk
Through the Purchasing Commission:
applied arTS
Framed mirror
Italy (?), second half of the 19th century
Inkstand Bird on Iris Stem
Austria, early 20th century
Lingerie collection
Western Europe, late 19th – first quarter
of the 20th century
15 pieces altogether
modern arT SecTion
Gifts:
SculpTure
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois
Nature Study. Sculptural composition
on a platform
USA, 2002
Rubber, stainless steel
F. Dontsov
F. Dontsov
LSF
Russia, 2008
Acrylic glass, author’s technique, fluorescent
tube
A. Zhelud
Anya Zhelud
Wardrobe: composition of objects from different
cycles: Hanger and Coat, Table and Suitcase,
and A Pair of Shoes
Russia, 2009
Welding and painting on metal
graphic worKS
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov
Ilya Kabakov, Emilia Kabakova
Collection of graphic prints (48)
USA, 1990s – 2000s
Silk screening, line engraving, offset printing
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