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SAINT PETERSBURG, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS: An exhibition, titled ‘Urartu Artifacts: New Acquisitions’, opened at the State Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg. Over 150 valuable items of the collection are exhibited at the Hermitage Museum for the first time.
Armenpress reports from Saint Petersburg that the collection of Urartian antiquities was presented to the museum by Torkom Demirjian – collector, owner of Ariadne Galleries in New York.
The collection items are well preserved and need little restoration. The exhibition features Urartian bronze belts of various width with characteristic images - scenes of feast and donations, scenes of hunting, fantastic creatures, as well as details of equine equipment decorated with inscriptions and images, votive plates, bracelets, pins, pectoral.
One of the collection highlights is a bronze helmet with a fulgurous symbol on a forehead part. It is believed that it is a symbol of Urartian god of war Teisheba. Urartian belts are particularly interesting: prior to acquisition of the new collection, the Hermitage collection had only one belt of this kind. The exhibition is supplemented with a selection of ceramic items - bright large vessels with painting.
The exhibition is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Hermitage Oriental Department, which was established by Hovsep Orbeli – academician, who was the director of the museum for many years.