“HERBARIUM AMORIS? OF CARL VON LINNAEUS HONORED AT THE RUSSIAN MUSEUM

Tuesday, 19 December 2006 11:55

St. Petersburg, Russia - The year of 2007 marks the tercentenary of Carl von Linnaeus, a great Swedish scientist.  On December, 15 - the eve of his jubilee celebrations - the Russian Museum in collaboration with the Consulate General of Sweden and the Swedish Institute opened the “Herbarium Amoris” exhibition dedicated to flowers and plants that Carl von Linnaeus studied all his life.  The exhibition comprises the works by the Swedish photographer Edvard Koinberg (b. 1964) inspired by Linnaeus’ treatise on the sexes of plants, illustrations by Fyodor Tolstoy (1783-1873) for botanical atlases, drawings by Pavel Filonov (1883-1941) and a canvas by Vladimir Sverchkov (1820-1888) from the storages of the State Russian Museum.  The exhibition will be on display till January 15, 2007 in St. Michael’s Castle.

ITS FIRST VIRTUAL BRANCH IN FINLAND!

The Mayor of the City of Kotka (Finland) Henry Lindelöf and the Director of the State Russian Museum Vladimir Gusyev will sign a Cooperation Agreement between the City Council of Kotka and the State Russian Museum in the City Hall of Kotka.  The presentation of the “The Russian Museum: The Virtual Branch” information & educational centre will take place on the same day.  Now the masterpieces from the collection of the State Russian Museum will be accessible to the citizens of Finland.  “The Russian Museum: The Virtual Branch” project is aimed at the creation of a uniform network of information & educational centers in the cities of Russia, former Soviet republics and abroad.

“The Virtual World of the Russian Museum’ programs allows to create virtual expositions in the non-existent exhibition halls, demonstrates historical reconstructions of the lost museum interiors.  Visits to virtual pictures allow the spectators to become a part of the subject, develop the creative imagination & are designed for visitors of all age groups.  The museum works on the creation of the integrated system including the storage of multimedia data, with the help of which the employees of the virtual branches will assemble series of lectures and presentations on their own.  The next step is the development of the local area network of virtual branches which will link the members of the “The Russian Museum: The Virtual Branch” project: museums, universities, schools.  It will allow to follow the events in the State Russian Museum in real time mode, to exchange news, to get access to the new multimedia programmes developed in the State Russian Museum, to provide distance learning. “The Russian Museum: The Virtual Branch” information & educational centers were opened in 2003-2006.

The State Russian Museum today is a unique depository of artistic treasures, a leading restoration center, an authoritative institute of academic research, a major educational center and the nucleus of a network of national museums of art.

The Russian Museum collection contains circa 400.000 exhibits.  The main complex of museum buildings - the Mikhailovsky Palace and Benois Wing - houses the permanent exhibition of the Russian Museum, tracing the entire history of Russian art from the tenth to the twentieth centuries.  The museum collection embraces all forms, genres, schools and movements of art.  Visit The State Russian Museum at : http://www.rusmuseum.ru/eng/museum/