About the Project

Russian museums have, for the first time, implemented a comprehensive art theme collection project using state-of-the-art IT. The project includes creation of an archive of high-accuracy images and a theme website, www.italian-art.ru, launch of an electronic edition including virtual tours on DVDs, issue of a Full HD video film about the collection’s masterpieces, and an Internet version of museum rooms on the Museum portal www.arts-museum.ru.

The digital edition consists of two discs and includes a virtual computer tour of rooms 7, 17 and 18 of the Museum’s main building, as well as an introductory film showing the most significant works of art by Italian masters of the 8th – 18th centuries from the collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, together with a science-based account of their history and comments by experts. The video is set to background music from the time when the art works were created. The edition is a fascinating journey through an Italian art exhibition, enabling viewer to feel as if they were present in the Museum’s rooms, to obtain all information needed about the masterpieces, or have a good look at the pictures, which is not always possible even when visiting an exhibition.

The theme has been chosen for a reason: the collection of Italian art is among the key sections of the Museum’s Picture gallery. It includes more than 550 works and provides chronological coverage of the entire period when the leading European art school was developing. The Italian collection holds a special place in the history of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, as it launched the Museum’s Picture gallery. For more information on the history of the collections, please visit the Museum’s portal at www.arts-museum.ru. This is a system of the Museum’s websites, including the main site and 11 satellite sites that, like this project, have been developed by the Museum jointly with EPOS Group using the latter’s own unique technology.

The project’s general sponsor is Banca Intesa, a bank of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group (Italy), which attaches paramount importance to preserving historical heritage and cultural traditions. Banca Intesa is very actively involved in implementing projects aimed at introducing Italian culture and further developing cultural dialogue between the two countries. The bank views supporting culture and art as a significant social investment in the future, a key to society’s continued development.

Museum Director
Irina Antonova

 

The specialists involved in the work on this Project were:

the following members of staff from The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts -

  • V.E.Markova: leading researcher from the Old Masters Department, Doctor of Art History, Professor, Honoured Art Historian of the Russian Federation and author of the two-volume catalogue – Italy: 8th-20th Centuries
  • Y.I.Prilutskaya: senior researcher from the Department for Popular Scientific Materials.
  • V.P.Voropaev: sponsor liaison

Banca Intesa

  • Tatiana Yastrzhembskaya: advisor to the Chairman of the Management Committee on PR, Banca Intesa

and the following members of staff from the CJSC Epos Group -

  • V.V.Opredelenov: project manager
  • M.V.Ugolnikov: art director
  • A.V. Beloborodov: technical support
  • O.S.Kovalenko: design and video-montage
  • S.S.Kuznetsova: senior programmer
  • D.I.Dubynin: programmer
  • A.V. Ershov: photography
  • S.A. Losev: photography
  • S.A. Gershman: digital image processing
  • Y.V.Buzina: content creation
  • K. Judelson: translation into english
  • Russian Translation Company
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