And it so happened that in the process of preparing the material about the helmet of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, I had to face the problem of the absence of his photographs, as well as photographs of the "helmet of Alexander Nevsky", but in fact the helmet of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. It would seem that everything should be on the Internet, only what got into the article was found. Moreover, both of these helmets are in the Armory Chamber in the Kremlin, but it was on its website that their photos were not found! And it was this that caused my heightened interest in the topic, not so much of these helmets themselves, as in the issue of modern information support for the activities of Russian museums.
Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin
Here is the upper chamber of the Armory. Photo from the site. Everything is very impressive, isn't it? But the exposition is already very old and traditional. The equestrian figure stands so that the light falls on it from behind. All other exhibits are under glass, that is, it is almost impossible to photograph them. It is clear that professional filming is possible, but it will be so expensive that no publishing house would agree to make a book with such illustrations.
Alas, I know very well what it represents at the local level. I come to my regional museum of local lore. I say: "You have an interesting book … open the window, I will reshoot it and write a number of articles, indicating that it is from your funds … I will pay!" Answer: "So after all it is necessary to open a shop window !!!" And so on, and in the same spirit. Moreover, the salaries of the employees are simply penny. They could at least buy stationery for themselves with this money for a year or something.
Rarely, very rarely, museums respond to emails. Although, it happens, they answer and even send the ordered photos. Moreover, sometimes even for free! This is generally from the realm of fantasy, but it happened. But you can never be sure. It's like Russian roulette!
Turkish helmet from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, c. 1500 There are usually several photographs for each item in this museum, showing it from different angles.
Helm of the Grand Vizier, 1560 (Topkapi Museum, Istanbul). Here is another place where any lover of oriental weapons should definitely visit.
So the reason why I personally, for example, prefer to work with foreign museums, is easy to explain. You go to the site of the museum - everything is clear there, even if it is written in hieroglyphs. You choose what you need. You look - there is a public domain icon (public domain) or not. If there is, then it's generally excellent. If not, contact the copyright department and, as a rule, get permission to publish. Or a message telling you how much to pay you. But only this is rare. Paying for photos is typical for us. Here is the site of the magazine "History Illustrated" - 200 rubles. for a photo from their archive.
Another example of a modern museum photo. Turkish helmet shishak, late 17th century. Steel, copper, leather, corduroy and silk. (Stibbert Museum, Florence)
I'm not even talking about the fact that the card of a member of the International Federation of Journalists is not valid here in Russia. All over the world, you can go to museums on it for free, and in some you can also use public transport for free. They say that a journalist is always on duty, even when he is a tourist. Both the Louvre and the British Museum … But not with us! Only last summer in the "English Compound" Museum, which is located in Moscow, in the chambers of a unique monument of history and architecture of the 16th-17th centuries, I was told that, yes, we know that, go free. I didn't have time to check it at the Armory. But in the West, the rule of free visits by journalists-members of the international federation applies unswervingly from the seedy fort museum in Cyprus to the world-famous museum castle of Carcassonne in France and the chocolate museum in Barcelona. By the way, in the latter it was like this: there the ticket is a chocolate bar. And so the whole family got up, we buy “tickets” and show our journalistic “cards”, and the director himself stood at the checkout, it just so happened. He saw that we had two cards for four and … immediately he said - "Free of charge for you all!" Well, we were delighted. And then the granddaughter says that it would be nice to use this money in her interests. We told her: "Wish!" Well, she also "wished". So, in the end, the director of the museum did not lose! And I wrote an article about this museum in the magazine "Secrets of the XX century, I wrote just wonderful. It's good to me - and I'm good!
Another exhibit of the Stibbert Museum in Florence is a Turkish warrior in a mirror and a shishak helmet.
By the way, the Sibbert Museum publishes excellent thematic newsletters at a price of 14.50 euros. For example, this one is dedicated to oriental weapons.
Edition on the knightly theme …
And here is a very impressive fragment of a sword with a unique handle from the collection of the State Historical Museum - the State Historical Museum in Moscow. This one of his handle is cast from bronze, while the blade is iron. A very unusual weapon, isn't it? His replicas could decorate museums in various countries of the world, collectors would queue up behind them, but our people simply cannot figure out that it is possible to earn decent money on this. Apparently they already have everything.
Now we have a market and the 21st century. This means that people need to be seduced with beautiful pictures on the Internet, so that they want to see all this live, and even take a selfie: “I and the malachite vase in the Hermitage”, “I am in the knightly hall of the Hermitage”, “I and the golden carriage of the Kremlin Armory . This is the alpha and omega of any modern business! You can also make copies of exhibits and sell them for money to wealthy collectors and other museums. And, of course, use museum values for agitation and propaganda.
And this is done, but again, somehow, well, it is completely stupid. I go to the Kremlin's Armory Board website. Everything is modern, no worse than the site of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Immediately I see an advertisement for their next edition: "The Moscow Kremlin after an artillery bombardment in 1917". The annotation says that when full-scale hostilities unfolded in the city, which "led the citizens of one country against each other," the Kremlin was fired from artillery pieces. The destruction caused by him is reflected in photographs, the most objective and impartial witnesses of historical events. "The photographs are accompanied by quotations from acts, reports and protocols of the inspection of the Kremlin buildings - documents that were created simultaneously with the photographing and for the same purpose - to record the damage as accurately as possible." Of course, one could only rejoice in such a book, but its price … 1300 rubles. a little discouraging. This is acceptable only for foreigners, but not for us. Which library will buy it? The Penza Regional Children's and Youth Library will not buy for sure. She has been living for years on gifts from authors and benefactors. But I won’t buy it for myself either … and so there’s nowhere to go from books. But do you need such a book? Yes, let the crimes of the "builders of a new society" once again show everyone that nothing needs to be built by force. You just have to live and then everything will come by itself. Therefore, from the point of view of managing public opinion, propaganda and agitation, such a book should cost a maximum of 130 rubles, and let the government cover the difference in price or, say, the same Mr. Ulyukaev. Why not? Do you want to be free? Give a lot, a lot of money to publish the books the country needs and … "pay and fly." There will be much more benefits to both the country and the people than from his sitting behind bars on state bread. And so far it turns out like this: we want to eat the fish, and ride on the bones! But that usually doesn't happen!
Okay! Move on. On the website of the Metropolitan Museum in New York in the public domain fund, there are 788 photographs of helmets alone. And I somehow looked through them all !!! The work is still "that". But it is doable! And here - how many did not look, but there are no photos of the helmets of the Armory Chamber. There is not!
But on the other hand, there is information about exhibitions held abroad, in Shanghai in 2015, and a year earlier the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and the Moscow Kremlin Museums held an exhibition in Moscow dedicated to the study of the role of Russia in international political and trade relations with the countries of the East in the 16th -XVII century. And there are photographs in the information blocks about these exhibitions. There is also a press release (this is such a press release), which says the following about the exhibition in Shanghai: “After the collapse of the Golden Horde, Russia took control of such important trade routes from East to West as the Volga-Caspian, which connected with a short and convenient route Asia and Europe. As Russia's borders and influence expanded, so did its political ties with Iran and Turkey. The growing importance of Russia for these states was reflected, among other things, in the precious gifts sent by the Iranian and Turkish rulers to the court of the Russian tsars or presented by eastern merchants.
For comparison, a photograph of a zirah-baktar armor from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Iranian turban helmet, 15th century (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
Often, unique products of Iranian and Turkish craftsmen were bought for the tsar by Russian envoys and diplomats in the countries of the East. A significant part of this unique oriental collection of monuments originating from the royal treasury has been preserved in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin to this day. It includes ceremonial weapons, magnificent equestrian decorations, items made of gold and precious stones, luxurious fabrics. Many of the monuments presented at the exhibition found direct application in the Russian court life.
The earliest items from the Eastern collection of the Kremlin Museums presented at the exhibition are associated with the art of the Golden Horde. The patterned weaving of Iran of the 16th-17th centuries is an excellent example. Iranian fabrics were distinguished by the richness of the color sound, the beauty of the pattern, the special rhythm of the compositional construction of the floral and plant ornament. Truly, a unique group of Iranian gold items brought to Russia as ambassadorial gifts.
Monuments of Turkish art of the 16th-17th centuries are presented at the exhibition with samples of precious fabrics, weapons, ceremonial horse decoration, jewelry, crystal and jade vessels inlaid with gold and precious stones. Turkish fabrics were distinguished by large floral patterns and bright colors. The earliest Turkish fabrics from the treasury of the Russian autocrats date back to the middle - second half of the 16th century.
Turkish edged weapons are represented in the arms treasury of Russian sovereigns in almost all types: sabers, broadswords, konchars and daggers. Their handles are made, as a rule, of gold or gilded silver, decorated with carved or nielloed floral ornaments. The decoration is complemented by precious stones, high castes with turquoise, jade plates with gold inlay. Turkish horse decoration, like many other things of Turkish masters, were often decorated with precious cuffs - gold with precious stones or made of ornamental stones with gold inlay and sparkles of precious stones. Many monuments of Turkish arms business and items of the stable treasury, by the splendor of their design, can be attributed to the true masterpieces of jewelry art.
Products of Iranian and Turkish masters not only organically merged into the official and daily life of the Moscow court, but also had a significant impact on the activities of the Kremlin production workshops, becoming role models."
As you can see, everything that was collected at this exhibition was very interesting and … photos from this exhibition were posted on the site. True, their status was not clear, that is, whether they could be freely used. I had to call the press center, where his manager kindly explained everything to me. I regret that I did not realize to speak with this lady in English, posing as some kind of journalist from England. And then ask about the same thing in Russian to see if there is a difference. Because it happens in our museums. But a telephone conversation is one thing. After all, what are words if not air, as I-Poon said - the seller of secrets from the story of Jack London "Hearts of Three". Therefore, I wrote a letter to the secretariat of the Armory with a request to allow the publication of photographs from these exhibitions in an article on the Military Review website. And this is the answer that came to me.
Hello, Vyacheslav Olegovich!
We have received an answer to your letter to the Moscow Kremlin Museums - an agreement, payment. The price for the right to publish one image of a museum item on the website is 6500 rubles. If you are satisfied with the cost, then I will draw up an Agreement (I will need additional information from you).
I'm waiting for your decision.
Sincerely, Sarafanova Irina Veniaminovna
As you can see, the "museum workers" from the Armory do not spend on trifles with us - 6500 rubles per photo and publish them to your health. That is, 10 photos will cost 65,000 rubles - an amount that no fee on any of the Russian or Western sites will ever pay off! There are no such fees! There is not!!! Now it is clear why there are captions under the photographs in italics, but the photographs themselves are missing? I can't insert them! But you can see them on the website of the Moscow Kremlin Armory.
And there are also people on VO who ask me a question, or even reproach me: why don't you write about our history, about our museums, fortresses … But how to write about them if they demand 6500 rubles from you. for one photo? People would be glad that they are given free advertising, that an article about them will be copied by a dozen bloggers and distributed all over the Internet. I have to pay for them that I gave myself the trouble to write about all this. But no, of course … Is it really not clear that even 200 rubles for a photo in modern conditions in Russia is a lot, but at least it is still tolerable. Whereas the above sum speaks of a complete, so to speak, misunderstanding of the realities of our life.
Scimitar. Turkey. (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
By the way, the exhibition, which took place in the Shanghai Museum from July 4 to October 10, 2015, was attended by 642 948 people.
And the question is, why on the website of such an impressive museum as the Moscow Kremlin's Armory Chamber there are only photographs of those exhibits that were exhibited abroad? And where, for example, the chain mail of Prince Shuisky, all the above and not named, but interesting helmets from her collection, Western European knightly armor, and much, much more. With the quality of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Art in Cleveland, the Museum of Art in Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Royal Arsenal in Leeds, the National Museum in Tokyo, and so on. Why "there" can provide all this to users on the basis of "public domain", but we do not ?! Are we not yet mature enough? And if you can't download them (okay, it's clear that you want to "raise the dough"), then just let me just look at all this. By way of advertising. But no!
P. S. Now my book on armor and weapons of the East and West is next in line, and this beautiful, "gift" edition will be. And the photos there will be from different museums of the West and the East. And I think that they will not deny me the right to publish photos of their exhibits. And there are many museums there. One will refuse - the other two will agree. And at the end of the book there will be a complementary text for them with gratitude, and maybe the publishing house will also send them this book. And people will watch it and think: “The Russians, it turns out, are also people, are interested in old weapons and armor and have done everything as decently. They are the same, in general, like us! It is in vain that our politicians scold them”. This is how good PR is done for the country. However, there will be no photographs from Russian museums in this book.
