The State Hermitage is now offering on its website a new virtual tour of the temporary exhibition “Photographic Reproductions in the Second Half of the 19th Century. Photographs of Raphael’s Paintings in the Hermitage Collection”.
A photograph is a vulnerable item subject to fading that can be displayed only under certain conditions and for a limited amount of time. Temporary exhibitions are a rare opportunity to get acquainted with the Hermitage’s rich photographic collections, Now, thanks to the latest technologies, everyone who wishes can enjoy prints of astonishing beauty on a “Virtual Visit” accessible through the museum’s official website.
The exhibition tells about the art of photographic reproduction and invites us to trace the development of the genre through the example of prints made from works by Raphael by European photographers in the second half of the 19th century.
More than 40 photographs, on public show for the first time, make it possible to assess the quality of different printing techniques, to discover what difficulties photographers of that period encountered, what technical and artistic tasks they had to tackle, and also to look at the great artist’s works through the eyes of a 19th-century viewer.
From the moment that photography was invented, the reproduction of works of art was regarded as one of the main spheres for its application. Shooting art for reproductions was regarded as one of the most difficult fields within the profession, and good photographic reproductions were prized and quite often collected on a par with paintings and works of graphic art. The examples of photographic albums included in the exhibition tell about what became a popular craze in society in the second half of the 19th century. The exhibition features photographs of celebrated works by Raphael from the collections of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the Counts Stroganov and Princes Yusupov, Duke Mikhail of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the statesman and public figure Piotr Semenov-Tian-Shansky. Photographic prints of works by Raphael became diplomatic gifts: the exhibition includes photographs of the Raphael frescoes at the Villa Farnesina that the Roman photographer Pietro Dovizielli presented to Emperor Alexander II.
The introduction of inexpensive prints in the carte de visite format in the mid-1850s made photography accessible to all sections of the population. Such small-sized prints reproducing works of art were exceptionally popular: they were bought by travellers, collected in special albums accompanied by written captions. Sometimes, when technical factors prevented them from taking pictures of original works by Raphael, photographers and publishers resorted to subterfuge and instead sold photographic prints of engraved reproductions of the paintings. In the exhibition visitors can see photographs taken both of Raphael’s paintings and of engravings of them.
Photographs of artworks were in demand not only with tourists: researchers and art connoisseurs also made extensive use of them in their endeavours. The publication of photographic reproductions made it possible to study a particular work without even leaving home.
The visual part of the tour consists of twelve spherical panoramas, complete with detailed commentaries. 43 individual exhibits are also marked with a special symbol that can be clicked on to open up a larger image and obtain additional information.
In the Virtual Visit section of the site, users can acquaint themselves with the permanent displays in the Hermitage’s Main Museum Complex and also with temporary exhibitions, both ones that have already finished and others that are still running.
The “Photographic Reproductions” exhibition is housed in Halls 157 and 158 in the Main Museum Complex. It can be visited in person until 28 March 2021 as part of Fixed Route No 2 (entry by the Church Staircase).
