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The Hall of Jupiter. Opening of a new permanent exhibition In 2005 the Hall of Jupiter reopened following restoration work. This hall is one of the largest in the New Hermitage. It offers a modernized exhibition on "The Art of Ancient Rome from the 1st to the 4th Century". The hall was originally designed by Leo von Klenze to serve as a Gallery of New Sculpture. From the mid-19th century, ancient sculpture was on display here, selected in keeping with the scholarly views of that time. In 1861 a statue of Jupiter was brought here from the collection of the Marquis Campana in Italy, and the hall’s name was changed in honour of the acquisition. The architectural appointments of the hall have been preserved almost without change. The last restoration work carried out in the Hall of Jupiter took place in 1954. The exhibition of Ancient Roman art was prepared by Oscar Valdgauer in 1934 and existed for more than 70 years. The room needed restoration of all elements of the interior decoration and reconstruction of all engineering systems. It was necessary to design and install a modern system of lighting. In the process of restoration, the mouldings and plaster finishing of the ceiling were cleaned and missing parts were filled in. The entire surface of the plaster was strengthened, primed and painted in colours matching the historical tints. The moulded decor required special attention due to the considerable loss of elements. During the restoration work, walls faced with artificial marble were inspected and missing parts were filled in using a soluble binder. The surface of the walls was levelled. After strengthening and levelling, the walls were polished using diamond pads, after which a gloss finish was rolled on using felt and a coating of protective compounds was applied. The main problems in restoring the floor were the deep soiling of the surface and mechanical destruction of the stone. All procedures were carried out with the greatest caution: the stone was protected from aggressive chemicals, fragments of the floor were firmly fixed and cleaned, and the cracks between stone slabs were filled in. Lighting in the hall was done to suit the style of the exhibitions of ancient art. Light from the luminescent fixtures located along the cornices underlines the beauty of the architectural design of the hall and its interior decoration. Spot lighting puts an accent on masterpieces of Roman sculpture and on the colossal statue of Jupiter. At present the Hall of Jupiter displays the collection of Roman sculptural portraits and sarcophagi. Here we also see the decorative marble vases created by Italian sculptors in the 18th century "in the antique manner". The collection of Roman portrait sculptures is based on a core group coming from the Llyde-Brown, Campana, Demidov and Laval collections. It is considered to be one of the best in the world. It has more than 100 exhibit items, including world renowned masterpieces such as the portraits of the emperors Philip the Arab, Lucius Verus and Balbinus and the Portrait of a Syrian Woman. The modernized exhibition shows the development of portraiture from the age of the Roman Antonini emperors (1st-2nd centuries A.D.) to the end of Ancient Rome’s existence (4th century A.D.). A large team of specialists took part in the project - staff from the Department of the Ancient World, the Department of Major Construction, the Department of the History and Restoration of Architectural Monuments, the Service of the Chief Engineer, the Department of Scientific and Technical Examination, and representatives and specialists of the Committee for State Inspection of the Preservation of Monuments. The restoration and technical engineering work was carried out by Likeon - Museum Concepts and Projects Ltd.. |
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Copyright © 2006 State
Hermitage Museum |
