For what purpose did Peter 1 create the Cabinet of Curiosities? Kunstkamera of Peter I

"If you're in St. Petersburg, be sure to visit the Kunstkamera!" - almost every tourist and guest of the northern capital receives such parting words. What is a cabinet of curiosities? Many people associate this word with something unusual, rare and spectacular. It smells of antiquity, something distant...

The article describes in detail what the Kunstkamera is, the history of its creation and its current situation.

Concept

There is a legend that Peter I, while walking along Vasilievsky Island, saw two amazing pine trees: a branch of one in some incomprehensible way grew through the trunk of the other. The impressionable sovereign remembered this one. He remembered the curiosity a few years later when visiting on a diplomatic mission in 1697-1698. England and Holland. Then he became acquainted with the so-called “cabinets of curiosities” of noble nobles, in which they kept all sorts of wonders: preserved organs in alcohol, stuffed animals, collections of rare insects. These were the very first cabinets of curiosities. The word translated from German means “art room.”

History of creation in Russia

Peter liked the marvelous rooms so much that after returning home, the first thing he did was arrange a similar office in his palace. In Holland, he learned a recipe for embalming, and for 30 thousand Dutch guilders he purchased the entire “Ruysch cabinet.” Subsequently, without skimping, the sovereign bought rare books, instruments, various instruments, unique artifacts and natural wonders abroad. Afterwards, he issued a decree according to which everyone who found some unusual or rare object had to transfer it to the created “cabinet of curiosities.” From all corners of the vast Russian Empire Amazing objects began to flow into the office. Soon there were so many of them that they could not fit in the palace. Much had to be stored in special basements, which greatly upset Peter, who wanted to display the wonders to everyone.

After moving the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg and moving to a new residence, he moved his rarities to a new place. He temporarily placed them in the palace of the disgraced boyar Kikin, who was expelled from the capital for participating in a conspiracy against the sovereign. The Tsar ordered the “Kikina Chambers” to be called the “Kunstkamera” in the foreign manner. This happened in 1714. This year the first Russian Cabinet of Curiosities was born, a photo of which today adorns every guide to St. Petersburg.

Construction of a building

Peter's collection grew very quickly. In 1717, again in Holland, Seb's entire office was purchased for 15 thousand Dutch guilders. Soon the Kikina Chambers could not contain all the valuables. To house his wonders with the possibility of showing them to everyone, the sovereign ordered the construction of a special building. An elite place was allocated for him, close to important government institutions.

The project was developed by the architect Mattarnovi. First stone of the future famous museum was founded in July 1718. Subsequently, the following people worked on the building: famous masters, like Gerbel, Zemtsov and Chiaveri.

The grand opening of the Kunstkamera took place in November 1728, although finishing work was completed only in 1734.

The difference between the Russian Kunstkamera and the European one

The first “cabinets of curiosities” arose in Europe during the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries. What is a cabinet of curiosities that belongs to a wealthy prince whose goal was to impress guests? It is simply a haphazard collection of rare or unusual objects, demonstrating the "learning" of their owner.

The Petrovskaya Kunstkamera, the description of which is given above, was initially conceived not as a collection of treasures, but as a collection of entertaining exhibits that could serve as educational and scientific purposes. The storage and systematization of values was entrusted to enlightened people. IN different time the directors or employees of “Peter’s office” were Baiburin, Bartold, Gumilyov, Lomonosov, Struve, Sternberg, Pallas, Severgin and other scientists. They collected a wide variety of material - not only freaks or interesting curiosities, but household items of great ethnographic and historical significance, scientifically valuable collections of insects, stuffed birds, reptiles, fish and animals, and created anatomical and mineralogical departments.

After the creation of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1724, the main sources of replenishment of the Kunstkamera were objects brought from the scientific expeditions of Miller, Krasheninnikov, Messerschmitt, Lisyansky, Miklouho-Maclay, Bellingshausen, Kruzenshtern.

What is the Russian Cabinet of Curiosities? This museum is one of the oldest and richest in the world, the cradle of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Curious facts

From the first day, the Kunstkamera, the photo of which is presented below, by order of Peter I, was open to everyone. Entrance and viewing of the exhibits was free.

Peter I created a completely unusual department in the museum, the exhibits of which were animals and people with birth defects - cyclopia, multi-armedness, siren syndrome and other anomalies. Moreover, there were not only embalmed organs and creatures, but also living dwarfs, freaks and monsters living in the museum at the expense of the state treasury.

The Emperor knew every item of his collection by sight and was an excellent guide, happily telling his guests about them.

Today the museum has 1.2 million exhibits!

Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (MAE RAS) - one of the largest and oldest ethnographic museums world, whose collection funds number over 1.2 million items. It is the successor to the first Russian state public museum, the famous Peter's Kunstkamera, founded by Peter I in 1714.

Most historians consider 1714 to be the year of foundation of the Kunstkamera, as well as the Library of the Academy of Sciences. The decree on the foundation of the Kunstkamera was not found; it, apparently, did not exist. The foundation of the museum is associated with the tsar’s order to transport from Moscow to the new capital of the Russian Empire the personal collections and library of Peter I, as well as books and collections of “naturalia” of the Apothecary Chancellery, including those purchased during the Great Embassy to Europe.

In St. Petersburg, the collections were placed in the Summer Palace, which had just been built for the Tsar, and were later transferred to the Kikin Chambers, where they were first shown to visitors in 1719. The creation of a public museum was entrusted to the president of the Pharmacy Chancellery, physician Robert Areskin, and the specially appointed “overseer of rarities and naturals” Johann Schumacher.

This date, 1714, was also named by I.D. Schumacher (secretary of the Academy of Sciences and director of the Kunstkamera and Library in 1724-1761) in the book “Chambers of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences...” (1744 edition): “The Library and Kunstkamera were established in 1714, and in 1724 they were annexed to the Academy of Sciences "

Even earlier, starting in 1704, Peter I issued a series of decrees (“On the bringing of born monsters, also found unusual things...”, etc.), which laid the foundation for the collection of collections for the future museum. Initially, the personal collections of Peter I and collections on anatomy and zoology were kept in the Apothecary Prikaz in Moscow.

Simultaneously with the organization of the museum, the design and construction (1718-1727) of a special building for the museum began. Built on the banks of the Neva in the style of Peter the Great's Baroque, this building was adjacent to the most important buildings of the capital - the building of the Twelve Collegiums, the Exchange, the palaces of his closest associates and members royal family. The Kunstkamera building is rightfully considered one of the earliest museum buildings in the world. It is the symbol and logo of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Ten years later, Peter the Great carried out the second part of his “academic” project. On January 28 (February 8), 1724, by order of the emperor, the Academy of Sciences was established by decree of the government Senate. The Kunstkamera and the Library, created simultaneously with it, became the first institutions, the “cradle” of the St. Petersburg (Russian) Academy of Sciences.

The transfer of the first Russian museum to the Academy of Sciences played a decisive role in its fate. The concentration of the richest collections within its walls, the introduction of scientific processing and systematization, as well as supervision of the exhibition of the country's best scientific forces turned the Kunstkamera into a truly scientific institution, which had no equal in the organization of work in all of Europe.

From the very beginning, the museum was not only the scientific base of the Academy of Sciences, but also the most important cultural and educational institution. Many major Russian scientists worked within the walls of the Kunstkamera, and among them M.V. Lomonosov, who compiled a description of the minerals stored in the Museum.

The decrees of Peter I in 1718 ordered that “extraordinary stones, human and animal bones, old inscriptions on stones, iron or copper, old guns, dishes, everything that is very old and unusual” be handed over for a fee to the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera.

These decrees played an extremely important role in the formation of the collections of the Kunstkamera, and later the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography - for more than two centuries, collections collected by famous Russian travelers and seafarers were received here. In particular, special Academic expeditions were sent to various regions of Russia to collect collections.

Formation of ethnographic funds of the museum in the XVIII - early XIX centuries associated with the names of I.I. Georgi, I.A. Gildenstedt, I.G. and S.G. Gmelinykh, S.P. Krasheninikova, G.I. Langsdorf, I.I. Lepekhina, Yu.F. Lisyansky, F.P. Litke, D.G. Messerschmidt, G.F. Miller, N.Ya. Ozeretskovsky, P.S. Pallas, I.P. Falka and others. In the XIX - XX centuries. The MAE received collections from I.F. Krusenstern, I.G. Voznesensky, N.N. Miklouho-Maclay, V.V. Juncker, A.L. Yashchenko, A.M. Manizer, L.A. I am. Mervartov, P.K. Kozlova, V.K. Arsenyeva, N.S. Gumilyov and many others. In addition, the collections of the Kunstkamera also included collections of a number of famous European travelers J. Cook, I.F. van Overmeer-Fisher, F.F. von Siebold, L. Frobenius and others. Many diplomatic gifts to the Russian emperors, collections collected by Russian diplomats in different parts of the world, were also transferred to the Kunstkamera, and later to the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography.

In the 30s of the XIX century. Based on the collections of the Kunstkamera, seven independent academic museums were created: Ethnographic, Asian, Egyptian, Anatomical, Zoological, Botanical, Mineralogical and the Cabinet of Peter I. The Ethnographic and Anatomical museums continued to be located in the Kunstkamera building. On December 5, 1878, at the suggestion of the director of the Ethnographic Museum, Academician A.A. Schiffner and the director of the Anatomical Museum, academician K.M. Baer Physics and Mathematics Department of the Academy of Sciences decided to establish the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, which was approved by resolution on November 10, 1879 State Council. Thus, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (MAE) in St. Petersburg became not only one of the oldest ethnographic museums in the world, most of which were created in 1870-1910, but also inherited from the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera priceless and oldest ethnographic collections, many of which there are no analogues in museums in Europe and America.

During the celebration of the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg in 1903, the museum received the name of the founder of the Kunstkamera - Peter the Great.

The years leading up to the 200th anniversary of the Kunstkamera in 1914 were undoubtedly the “golden age” in the history of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. The exhibition space has doubled, new museum exhibitions have been created, and its budget has increased significantly. In 1909, a Board of Trustees of rich and influential persons was created at the MAE, with whose money a number of expeditions were organized to replenish the collections (to Ceylon, India; to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, to Abyssinia, etc.). For 20 years, from 1894 to 1914. ethnographic collections of the MAE have grown by almost 100 thousand storage units. During the anniversary celebrations, the Museum was visited by Emperor Nicholas II, members of the Senate and State Council.

The invaluable ethnographic, anthropological and archaeological collections housed in the Museum are among the most complete and interesting in the world. They number more than 1.2 million exhibits, reflect the diversity of cultures of the peoples of the Old and New Worlds and are part of the cultural heritage of all humanity.

The Museum is associated with the scientific activities of such outstanding Russian researchers of the 19th century as the founder of Russian and European anthropology, Academician K.M. Baer, traveler, scientist, public figure N.N. Miklouho-Maclay (traditional cultures of Australia, Oceania). Within the walls of the MAE, domestic scientific schools associated with names and creative heritage such scientists as I.I. Zarubin (Central Asian studies), N.V. Küner ( traditional culture peoples of East Asia), R.F. Barton (Philippines), L.I. Lavrov (Caucasian studies) D.A. Olderogge (African studies), Yu.V. Knorozov (decipherment of ancient writings of South America). It is difficult to overestimate the role of such outstanding ethnographers of Siberian history as L.Ya. Sternberg, V.G. Bogoraz and V.I. Yochelson, in the formation of not only domestic Siberian studies, but also world ethnographic science as a whole. A special role in the development of the MAE’s archeology department and the formation of its collection fund belongs to the outstanding archaeological scientists of Russia - P.P. Efimenko and S.N. Zamyatnin.

Throughout its history, the Museum occupied a special place in the structure of the Academy of Sciences. Among the people who ran the Museum in various years, there were outstanding scientists: naturalist, zoologist, traveler, academician L.I. Schrenk, natural scientists academicians P.S. Pallas, S.G. Gmelin, N.Ya. Ozeretskovsky, orientalists and historians academicians V.V. Bartold, B.A. Dorn, V.V. Radlov, V.V. Struve, A.A. Schiffner, Africanist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences D.A. Olderogge, linguists academicians E.F. Karsky and I.I. Meshchaninov.

In 1933, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences decided to create, on the basis of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, the Research Institute of Ethnography and Anthropology named after. N.N. Miklouho-Maclay (IEA AS USSR). During the Second World War, due to the urgent need to quickly obtain analytical materials on the peoples involved in the zone of strategic interests and hostilities Soviet army, in Moscow in 1943 the head division of the IEA of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created, and the Museum became the Leningrad part of this institute.

In 1992, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) again becomes an independent institution within the Department of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (now the Historical and Philological Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences).

Today the Federal State state-financed organization Science Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) RAS is not only an academic museum, but also one of the leading research centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The traditions of the great Russian ethnographers and anthropologists of the 18th - 20th centuries continue here. By presidential decrees Russian Federation(No. 294 of December 18, 1991 and No. 1487 of November 30, 1992) MAE RAS classified as particularly valuable objects cultural heritage peoples of the Russian Federation, included in the State Code of Especially Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation.

In 2014, the Kunstkamera celebrated its 300th anniversary. November 24-25, 2014 The international scientific conference “Kunstkamera - the first museum of Russia: 300 years of traditions and development” was held. November 26 A ceremonial meeting was held dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the oldest scientific institutions in Russia - the First Public Museum of Russia, the Kunstkamera and the Library of the Academy of Sciences. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the Kunstkamera and the Library of the Academy of Sciences on their anniversary. Gifts and certificates from the government of St. Petersburg were presented by Andrey Maksimov, chairman of the city Committee on Science and Higher Education.

On Vasilyevsky Island there is a strict building topped with a tower, which is calledKunstkamera. On the building marble memorial plaques, from the inscriptions on which you will learn that this is one of the oldest buildings in St. Petersburg.

History of the creation of the Kunstkamera or the Tsar's Cabinet of Curiosities, began with the purchase by Peter I during a trip to Holland of 937 anatomical preparations.

Professor Ruysch collected them for almost 50 years and sold the collection to the Russian emperor because he believed that this way the collection would be preserved for posterity. The Russian Tsar bought various rarities abroad, sparing no expense. Robert Adreskin was appointed head of the first museum, and Johann Schumacher was appointed overseer.

In 1714, collections of curiosities were sent from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Peter I ordered to place them in his Summer Palace. The Emperor called them the Cabinet of Curiosities or the Kunstkamera. Later, all exhibits were moved to the Kikin Chambers. Alexander Kikin was killed during an investigation into the case of the Tsar’s son Alexei, and his two-story house was confiscated. The emperor ordered a museum and library to be located there. In eight halls there were Ruysch preparations in glass containers, geographical maps and stuffed animals, car models, instruments, books, minerals, Buddhist idols and other wonders, which were bought throughout Russia, as the emperor ordered.

KUNSTKAMERA OPERATING MODE:

COST OF VISITING THE MUSEUM:

KUNSTKAMERA ADDRESS:

The museum is open from 11:00 to 18:00

The ticket office is open until 17:00.

Day off - Monday

Sanitary day is the last Tuesday of every month,

adult citizens of Russia - 250 rubles

children, students, pensioners (Russian citizens) - 50 rubles

St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya embankment, 3

(entrance for visitors from Customs Lane)

Directions: trolleybuses 1, 7, 10,11; buses 7, 10, 24,191
(from metro station "Nevsky Prospekt")

OFFICIAL SITE:

http://www.kunstkamera.ru

People were especially amazed by the living exhibits. People suffering from various deformities lived in the museum building. The Kunstkamera opened to the public in 1719. The Emperor wanted visitors to look at the exhibits and develop themselves. To increase the number of guests in the Kunstkamera, not only was no fee charged, but ladies were given a cup of coffee with sweets, and gentlemen were given Tokay and snacks, and simpler people were given coffee and vodka. The Treasury allocated special funds for these purposes, to the envy of Europe. It soon became clear that the collection of exhibits was growing so quickly that the Kikin Chambers were not able to accommodate them.

Legend has it that the location for the Kunstkamera was chosen during a walk along Vasilyevsky Island. The emperor saw two pine trees, the branches of which were intertwined so wonderfully that it was difficult to determine which tree they belonged to. The king decided that this was a sign. It was decided to build on this exact site in 1728. The pine trees were carefully cut down. They became exhibits that can still be seen today.

The size of the constructed building seemed unusually large for that time, almost 100 meters long and 15 meters wide.

The Emperor personally supervised the construction of the Kunstkamera, but it was not completed during his lifetime. After the death of the Tsar, supervision was headed by the Academy, which made the museum a truly scientific institution. Several architects were involved in the construction. The Kunstkamera was completed by M. Zemtsov in 1735. The tower was crowned with a sphere, and sculptures of twelve sciences made of linden wood were installed in niches along the facades. Our great scientist M. Lomonosov, who founded the first Russian university, worked in the tower for more than 20 years since 1741. He opened a planetarium here and organized the work of an astronomical observatory.

On the basis of the main museum, 7 academic museums were organized in 1836. Museum M.V. Lomonosov of 3 halls was built in the premises of the Kunstkamera after the war in 1949. It presents the history of the development of astronomy in Russia, the scientist’s office with his instruments, instruments, personal belongings and books, documents. The atmosphere of the Academy's meeting room has been recreated.

MAE RAS is a museum that tells about the history of all the peoples of the world, archaeological discoveries, and anthropological exhibits. The catalog includes 1.8 million items. Huge collection brought together several generations of famous Russian and foreign scientists and travelers. The exhibits have survived fires and wars. In besieged Leningrad, only 15 people worked at the museum. With their heroic work, they preserved a priceless collection for us.

This building houses the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography and the M.V. Lomonosov Museum.

Once, according to legend, while walking along Vasilyevsky Island, Peter I came across two unusual pine trees. The branch of one of them had grown into the trunk of the other so that it was completely impossible to determine which of the two pines it belonged to. This rarity allegedly suggested to Peter I the place for the construction of the first museum in Russia - the Kunstkamera. On Vasilievsky Island there is a strict building topped with a tower, which is called the Kunstkamera. There are marble memorial plaques on the building, from the inscriptions on which you will learn that this is one of the oldest buildings in St. Petersburg. It was built already in 1728, and the city began only in 17O3. The great Russian scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, a titan of Russian and world science, worked in this building.
Peter 1, when building a new capital on the banks of the Neva, planned to make Vasilyevsky Island the center of the capital city. That is why the following were erected here: Twelve Collegiums - government institutions, a building with a tower - the Kunstkamera - the first Russian museum for “teaching and knowledge about living and dead nature, about art human hands", institution, with
which began the museum business in Russia. And not only museum ones. The Kunstkamera laid the foundation for some research institutes in Russia.
The Spit of Vasilyevsky Island did not become the center of the capital, but it became the center of Russian science for many years... And to this day, science reigns here, in academic institutes and museums, at the university.

The complex of buildings housing the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. Peter the Great (Kunstkamera) RAS - MAE RAS, this is the historical building of the Kunstkamera and attached to it in the 19th century. the so-called “Museum Wing”. The main building of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography is an outstanding example of Baroque from the Peter the Great era. This is the oldest museum building in the world.
The choice of location for the new building, according to legend, was made directly by Peter I. His attention was attracted by two pine trees growing on the wild bank of the Neva. Peter ordered to carefully cut down these trees with branches intricately intertwined and grown into the trunk, and the most curious parts of them to be transferred to the Kunstkamera. This is one of the earliest exhibits of the Kunstkamera and today can be seen in the museum’s exhibition. At the site where the trees grew, it was decided to lay the foundation for the permanent building of the Museum. The dimensions of the planned building at that time were unusually large: its length reached almost 100 m (97.2 m), and its width was 15 m. Peter I was interested in the condition of the building and repeatedly rushed its completion. However, during his lifetime the building was not completed. By the beginning of 1725, only the walls had been erected. The masonry of the tower that crowned the building and the interior decoration were carried out by the Academy after the death of the Tsar-Reformer.
The original design of the building was drawn up by the architect Georg Johann Mattarnovi, who began construction but did not complete it (1718–1719). After Mattarnovi’s death, the work was led by Nikolai Fedorovich Gerbel (1719–1724), who slightly modified the project. Thus, the window openings were decorated with brickwork, which looked richer, but did not correspond to what was in the original drawing. The lower frame of the tower changed from two-story to three-story. Under Gerbel, the building was built roughly, with an unfinished tower, in the masonry of which threatening cracks appeared.
The Italian architect Gaetano Chiaveri (1724–1727), who replaced Gerbel, discovered defects in the tower and insisted on creating a commission, in which the most famous architects of the time, Domenico Trezzini, Mikhail Zemtsov and a number of other architects, took part. At the request of the commission, the tower was dismantled. G. Chiaveri drew up a new design project for the building. The appearance of the entire tower changes dramatically. The lower volumetric part becomes higher. Instead of four pavilions, a light colonnade appears around the cylinder of the tower. The height of the cylindrical part of the tower increases. Finally, the tower is crowned with a tower with an astronomical (armillary) sphere installed on it.
This design option for the tower is the last of several made by G. Chiaveri at the request of the famous astronomer Delisle, invited by Peter to work at the observatory. According to the design of G. Chiaveri, over the side risalits along the façade on the embankment side, instead of a modest balustrade, elaborate baroque pediments with rich sculpture based on academic motifs appeared. G. Chiaveri did not complete the tower tower, which, according to his design, was completed in 1734 by the architect Mikhail Zemtsov.
At the same time, M. Zemtsov was finishing the upper part of the tower, topped with a sphere. In addition, in 1735, master Koch (probably based on the drawings of M. Zemtsov) made sculptures from linden wood that were installed in the niches of the northern and southern facades. The twelve statues represented different sciences.

The round hall on the first floor was intended for the Anatomical Theater, while in the hall on the third floor the “glorious Gottorp globe” was installed, transferred to the Academy of Sciences by Senate decree of September 30, 1725.
The building was significantly damaged during the fire of 1747. In subsequent years, it was restored by S.I. Chevakinsky without the upper tier of the tower. At the same time, work was carried out to strengthen the bank, the proximity of which to the Kunstkamera building had long caused concern among architects. In stormy weather, the waves of the Neva reached its foundation and washed it away. As a result of the strengthening work, the bank of the Neva was moved back from the building of the Kunstkamera by 5 m. From the spit of Vasilyevsky Island to the 7th line, a wooden embankment, made of half logs, appeared, and in front of the academic houses 2 new elegant piers rose on high piles
The original appearance was returned to the building only in 1948, when the tower was crowned with the famous armillary sphere (design by R.I. Kaplan-Ingel). No major renovation of the building has been carried out since mid-18th century c., phased repairs and reconstruction of the building began only in 1998 and due to insufficient funding they are far from completed.
In 1887, the Museum was provided with a relatively spacious exhibition space, consisting of two halls (architect R.R. Marfeld) in a building built perpendicular to the Kunstkamera building. In this room, on September 23, 1889, the first exhibition of the united Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography opened. In 1912, a third floor was built over the Museum wing.

Peter I, during the “great embassy” in 1697-1698, inspected the large prosperous cities of Holland and England. I also saw overseas cabinets of “kunshtov”, that is, rarities and miracles. On the pages of the diary that Peter ordered to be kept, the exclamation “very wonderful!” often flashes. There is also an entry about the latest science anatomy: “I saw the doctor’s anatomy: the whole inside is different - the human heart, the lungs, the kidneys... The veins that live in the brain are like threads...” Peter was very interested in such innovations and the tsar, without stinting, purchased entire collections and individual things: books, instruments, tools, weapons, natural rarities. These objects formed the basis of the “sovereign Cabinet”, and then the Peter’s Kunstkamera.
Returning to Russia, Peter began arranging the Russian “cabinet of curiosities.” Having ordered the transfer of the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Peter also ordered the transfer of the “sovereign’s Cabinet.” The entire collection was housed in the Summer Palace. The room was called in the German manner the Kunstkamera, that is, the “cabinet of curiosities.” This event occurred in 1714 and began to be considered the founding date of the museum.
The storage of these exhibits was entrusted to the President of the Pharmaceutical Chancellery, Robert Areskin. Johann Schumacher was appointed to a special position - “overseer of rarities and naturals.” This museum was called a cabinet of curiosities, but at that time it was not available for public viewing.
Only in 1719, some collections of the Kunstkamera were shown to the public. The main source of replenishment of the collections were the “Academic Expeditions” of the first half of the 18th century. Also, by order of Peter I, rarities were bought in different countries Europe. The collection that was shown to the public included many different animals, as well as live exhibits. These were people - freaks, dwarfs, giants and monsters.
In 1727, the Kunstkamera moved to a new location. The building was built by order of Peter I, and visiting this museum at that time was free. Peter believed that visitors should be treated to “coffee and Zuckerbrods”; for this purpose, he allocated a certain amount from the treasury for these treats. Also, visitors were treated to snacks and Hungarian wine. There were employees in the Kunstkamera who showed exhibits to visitors and talked about their origins. Visitors have always been very eager to visit this museum, and there is evidence that suggests that there have always been many different people in the Kunstkamera. In 1741, a two-volume catalog was published, where all the exhibits of the Kunstkamera were published with their full description.

Most of the anatomical collection belonged to Frederik Ruysch, professor of botany and anatomy. He produced a unique collection on anatomy and embryology. In 1717, Peter the Great, who was partial to curiosities, bought 937 of the drugs included in it. Ruysch, who had been collecting his collection for half a century, agreed to sell it only to the Russian Tsar. Ruysch believed that this man knew how to appreciate rarities and would be able to preserve this extraordinary collection for posterity.

In an effort to ensure that there were more and more rarities in the museum, Peter issued a special decree, which said: “If anyone finds any old things in the ground or on the water, namely: unusual stones, human or animal bones, fish or birds, not such as we have now... yes, they are very large or small compared to ordinary ones, also old inscriptions on stones, iron or copper...". New exhibits began to arrive at the museum from all over Russia, and those who had been abroad had to bring strange objects from there.

In 1747, the building of the Kunstkamera was engulfed in fire, and most of the collections burned down. Workers of the Kunstkamera sent lists of burnt exhibitions to provincial offices, with the intention of reassembling them. The Kunstkamera was restored only in 1766.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the museum began to be replenished with exhibits. Basically, these were things that Captain Cook brought from Polynesia. Also, ethnographic exhibits appeared here different nations peace.

The popularity of the Kunskamera among St. Petersburg residents was extremely high. Over time, many of the exhibits acquired their own legends. One of them talks about the head preserved in alcohol, executed under Peter I for infanticide, Maria Hamilton. The head was kept preserved in alcohol in a glass flask. One day, a certain visitor used alcohol for its intended purpose, and the head disappeared. Concerned museum curators turned to the sailors of the ship standing opposite the Kunstkamera with a request to find the exhibit. The sailors promised, but the ship left and the sailors disappeared for a long time. And almost a year later they appeared at the museum and offered, in exchange for one head of the English lady, three heads of shot Basmachi.
Another legend tells about Nicholas Bourgeois. In 1717, in France, Peter saw this man, almost 2 meters 30 centimeters tall. Peter brought him to Russia and made him his personal lackey. In 1724, Nikolai Bourgeois died, his skeleton was transferred to the Kunzkamera. During a fire in 1747, the skeleton's skull disappeared; another suitable skull, of which there were a great many in the collection, was fixed in its place. Since then, as the legend says, at night the skeleton walks through the halls and looks for its head.

In 1777–1779, in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Academy of Sciences, allegorical groups, busts and medallions with portraits of scientists. Of these, the bas-relief “Celebrating Europe”, the bust of Catherine II, the bas-relief “Russia”, and the medallion with the image of L. Euler have been preserved in the eastern hall.
Based on the collections of the Kunstkamera, several more academic museums were created in 1836 (zoological, botanical, ethnographic, etc.). At the same time, after the observatory was transferred to Pulkovo, the library of the Academy of Sciences occupied all the premises of the building. In 1878, the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography opened here. In 1884–1886, according to the project of R.R. Marfeld, a new two-story building was built in Tamozhny Lane. In 1909, according to the project of A.V. Drucker's building was built with a third floor.
In 1947–1949, the upper tier of the tower was restored, and the Gottorp Globe was installed in it. In 1949, the M.V. Museum opened in the building of the Kunstkamera. Lomonosov.

MAE RAS is the only museum in Russia that brings together and displays to visitors collections of materials on the culture and history of the peoples of the world, archeology and anthropology. The collections, which are among the largest in the world and number more than 1.8 million items, were collected by many generations of domestic and foreign scientists, including such researchers as James Cook, Yu. M. Lisyansky, I. G. Voznesensky, O. E. Kotzebue, I. F. Kruzenshtern, F. P. Litke, N. N. Miklouho-Maclay, V. V. Junker, L. I. Shrenk, M. A. Kastren and others.
The collections of ethnographic (more than 250 thousand), archaeological (about 460 thousand), anthropological (about 380 thousand) objects and illustrative materials (more than 800 thousand) are of exceptional value.
In three halls of the M.V. Lomonosov Museum, located in the tower of the building, documents and objects (scientific instruments and instruments, books, portraits, engravings) characterizing science and culture are displayed Russia XVIII c., personal belongings of M. V. Lomonosov; the history of Russian astronomy of the 18th-19th centuries is presented, including the Great Gottorp Globe Planetarium (created in Germany in 1664, restored in Russia in 1750 after a fire in 1747). The interiors of the meeting room of the Academic Assembly and the office of a natural scientist have been recreated.
Since 1992, the Museum again became an independent Museum and research institute as part of the Department of History Russian Academy Sciences, retaining its old name “KUNSTKAMERA” and bears
the name of Peter I was assigned to it in 1903. The full and official name today is the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) named after. Peter the Great RAS.
All exhibitions of the Petrovskaya Kunstkamera have survived to this day, despite natural disasters: fires, floods, wars, revolutions. During the siege, only 15 people remained in the museum; they rescued and saved collections of world significance.

The Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg was opened in 1714 by decree of Peter I. This is the first public museum in Russia and one of the oldest ethnographic museums in the world.

Initially, the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg was located in the Summer Palace, later - in the Kikin Chambers, and from 1727 - in the building of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island (1718 - 1734, architect of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg - G.I. Mattarnovi , completed by architects N.F. Gerbel, G. Chiaveri, M.G. Zemtsov. After the fire, it was restored by the architect S.I.

The Kunstkamera building in St. Petersburg is an example of Peter the Great's Baroque, one of the few surviving architectural monuments of St. Petersburg from the first third of the 18th century.

The choice of location for the new building, according to legend, was made directly by Peter I. His attention was attracted by two pine trees growing on the wild bank of the Neva. Peter ordered these trees with branches intricately intertwined and grown into the trunk to be carefully cut down, and the most curious parts of them to be transferred to the Kunstkamera of St. Petersburg. This is one of the earliest exhibits of the Kunstkamera of St. Petersburg and can still be seen on display today. At the site where the trees grew, it was decided to lay the foundation for a permanent building. The dimensions of the planned building at that time were unusually large: its length reached almost 100 m (97.2 m), and its width was 15 m. Peter I was interested in the condition of the building and repeatedly rushed its completion. However, during his lifetime the building was not completed. By the beginning of 1725, only the walls had been erected. The masonry of the tower that crowned the building and the interior decoration were carried out by the Academy after the death of the Tsar-Reformer.

Getting to the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg today is not difficult. The building of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg for Anthropology and Ethnography is located immediately behind Palace Bridge, on the left in the direction of travel. Entrance from the yard. A variety of glass figurines are often sold in front of the building. In the foyer of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg, to the left and slightly down are the ticket offices, to the right and far down is the wardrobe. Visitors also exit through the cloakroom, exiting in the evening before the closing of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg.

Exposition of the Kunstkamera of St. Petersburg

The basis of the collection of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg (“cabinet of curiosities”) was the personal collections of Peter the Great. In the 1830s. From the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg, seven independent museums were formed. In 1879, two of them - Ethnographic and Anatomical - were combined into an exhibition of anthropology and ethnography, which since 1903 has been named after Peter the Great. It is worth drawing your attention to the fact that photography and video shooting in this “cabinet of curiosities” is strictly prohibited. However, there are “craftsmen” who shoot on modern phones.

The ethnographic, anthropological and archaeological collections of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg represent the culture and life of many peoples of the world on all continents of the Earth.

The meeting included:

the oldest anatomical collection, acquired by Peter I in 1717 from the Dutch anatomist F. Ruysch;
a collection of monsters from the Petrovskaya Kunstkamera of St. Petersburg;
materials collected in the 17th - 19th centuries. during academic expeditions in Siberia and Kamchatka, as a result of I.F.’s circumnavigation. Krusenstern and Yu.F. Lisyansky, Antarctic expedition F.F. Bellingshausen and M.P. Lazarev.

Of particular interest is the collection collected by N.N. Miklouho-Maclay on New Guinea and the Islands of Oceania.

The museum exposition tells the story of the origin of man and human races, about the main stages of development primitive society And cultural traditions peoples of the world. The halls display works of decorative and applied art from Japan, China, Mongolia, Korea, India, Indochina, Indonesia, the Near and Middle East, models traditional dwellings, household and household items, handicrafts, materials telling about the customs and beliefs of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania, North and South America.

Video: Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg

Since 1993, a division of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography has been the exhibition of M.V. Lomonosov, which occupies the tower and Circular Hall of the Kunstkamera building in St. Petersburg. The exhibition is displayed in three halls. Among the exhibits are genuine personal belongings of Lomonosov, his scientific works And literary works, various scientific instruments and mechanisms, instruments for astronomical observations (exhibition “The First Astronomical Observatory of the Academy of Sciences”), geographical maps, samples of colored smalts, thanks to which Lomonosov managed to restore the lost art of mosaic.

Great Gottorop Globe

The Great Gottorop Globe, restored to replace the globe that burned in 1747, presented to Peter the Great by the Holstein Duke Karl-Friedrich, is also on display here. The diameter of the globe is 3 m 10 cm, inside there are round table and a bench that can seat 12 people. The Gottorop Globe was restored in the 18th century, thanks to the efforts of modern restorers and researchers. This is one of the very first planetariums in the world.

The outside of the globe is a physical map of the world, and while inside, you can see a map of the starry sky. With the help of a special mechanism, the globe rotates and, thereby, demonstrates the movement of the celestial sphere.

Exhibits of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg

Antique anatomical models and pediatric medical pathologies. 18th-19th century.

I warn you - there are a lot of pictures in the post with babies preserved in alcohol, do not look at the faint of heart!

Exhibits from the Mütter Museum of Medical History and exhibitions of ancient medical rarities from European museums at the University of Alabama.

Such exhibits have been made since the 17th century, some anatomical wax sculptures - like living ones, with real hair and eyelashes, I showed them in previous posts.

Models

Wax models with human hair in rosewood and Venetian glass cases; Workshop of Clemente Susini of Florence, 1781-1786

The Josephinum: Vienna, Austria

Wax model in rosewood and Venetian glass cases; Workshop of Clemente Susini of Florence, 1781-1786

he Mütter Museum: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wax model of head and thorax; Vasseur & Tramond; 19th Century

Persons

The Mütter Museum: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Pathological model; 19th Cent

Skeletons

Museum of Anatomical Waxes “Luigi Cattezneo” (Museo Delle Cere Anatomiche “Luigi Cattaneo”): Bologna, Italy preparation; Cesare Taruffi, circa 1850

Mütter Museum of Medical History

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Mutter Museum of Medical History is a collection of medical pathologies, antique medical equipment, and biological artifacts located at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, opened by Benjamin Franklin.

In 1750, the board of trustees purchased the building built for the evangelical meeting house for the university, and classes began there in 1751. At Franklin's suggestion, the college adopted the motto "Laws without morals are useless" (Leges sine Moribus vanae).

One of the main exhibits of the Mütter Museum is Gary Eastlack, a man who during his lifetime suffered from fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a disease in which extra bones form at the site of a bruise or wound.