On 20 February 2021, as part of the annual conference “Heraldry: Research and Practice”, the State Hermitage hosted a round table discussion devoted to the 40th anniversary of the seminar “Heraldry – an Ancillary Historical Discipline”.
Heraldic research has a long history in Saint Petersburg. The State Hermitage has become the centre of gravity for scholars of heraldry and heraldic artists. It was here in 1980 that the seminar “Heraldry – an Ancillary Historical Discipline” began functioning, and for an unbroken 40 years now it has gathered together within the walls of the Hermitage scholars, collectors and people who simply take an interest in heraldry.
The seminar’s main purpose is collaboration in the museum processing of heraldic collections, their introduction into scholarly circulation, co-ordination of the cataloguing of stocks of heraldic artefacts, discussion of the subjects of scholarly research, the development of terminology and methods of studying emblems, coats of arms, banners, orders, medals, badges and uniforms, as well as the regular exchange of information on new acquisitions and literature on heraldry, including bibliographic surveys.
Despite a fairly modest format for the sessions of the seminar “Heraldry – an Ancillary Historical Discipline” that allows those attending to listen to one or two presentations, its constancy and regularity make it possible to encompass the entire spectrum of questions associated with heraldic researches. Beneath the umbrella of the Heraldic Seminar, scholars and researchers in the most diverse fields come together: archaeologists, historians, numismatists, specialists in phaleristics and the study of uniforms, as well as collectors. Besides the traditional topics associated with heraldry as an ancillary historical discipline, questions are raised that relate to the development and functioning of present-day territorial and institutional symbolism.
Since late 2011, all the materials from the sessions of the seminar “Heraldry – an Ancillary Historical Discipline” have been published in full.
From the materials of the seminars work, two anthologies of papers were published in 1983 and 1988. In 2019, to mark the 70th birthday of Georgy Vadimovich Vilinbakhov, who has been the head of the seminar since its inception, Heraldic Anthology №1 was brought out that includes materials from its sessions in 2015–18. Heraldic Anthology №2 is currently being prepared for printing.
During the session of the round table, Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky, General Director of the Hermitage, addressed greetings to the conference participants, noting the great significance of the seminar “Heraldry – an Ancillary Historical Discipline” within the scholarly life of the State Hermitage. Georgy Vadimovich Vilinbakhov spoke about the history of heraldic researches and prospects for their development. Reminiscences about the start of the seminar’s activities, suggestions on how it should be held and thoughts about its future were contributed by researchers from various parts of Russia: Moscow (A.P. Chernykh, Ye.V. Pchelov), Siberia (A.Yu. Zhuravkov), the Urals (M.V. Zubarev, V.K. Kondurin), St Petersburg (G.V. Kalashnikov, P.K. Kornakov, L.I. Dobrovolskaya, M.Yu. Medvedev), and Tver (V.I. Lavrenov).
