"Under the blue sky of the East ... Collection of Islamic art of the princes Vyazemsky"

From October 20 in the museum-estate "Ostafyevo" - "Russian Parnassus" the exhibition project "Under the blue sky of the East… Collection of Islamic art of the princes Vyazemsky" begins. The exhibition will feature a collection of oriental art objects formed by the owners of the Ostafyevo estate - the famous poet Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky and his son Pavel Petrovich Vyazemsky during their stay in the Middle East. The space of the museum will feature 80 items from the collections of the Ostafyevo - Russian Parnas Museum-Estate and other museums - partners of the project.

The collection of Islamic art of the Vyazemsky princes included Turkish, Iranian and Indian weapons, manuscripts and miniatures, samples of Arabic calligraphy, tiles, and objects of decorative and applied art. After the liquidation of the museum in Ostafyev in 1930, unique things were distributed among different museums, some of the relics were lost. For the first time, 90 years later, the project collects items from the Vyazemskys’ collection in their native place - the Ostafyevo estate museum - Russian Parnassus.

Among the presented exhibits one can see a manuscript-scroll of the Ottoman Turks of the 19th century; watercolors by an unknown artist "Arba with noble Turkish women", made in gouache and gold; a manuscript book about stationary luminaries or Suvar al-kawakib ("Image of the luminaries") by Abu-l-Hussein Abd ar-Rahman ibn Umar al-Sufi and much more.

Prince Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky traveled to the East in the 1840s. Petr Andreevich left his impressions and descriptions of the holidays and traditional culture of the peoples of the East, their rituals, costumes, and cooking in his travel diary and poems "Night on the Bosphorus", "Palestine" and others. His son, Prince Pavel Petrovich Vyazemsky from 1846 to 1850 was in the diplomatic service in the Russian mission in Istanbul and was awarded the Turkish Order of Glory for his contribution to the development of Russian-Turkish relations.

The project "Under the Blue Sky of the East… Islamic Art of Princes Vyazemsky" gives visitors the opportunity to visit the Ostafyevo Estate Museum - "Russian Parnassus" to see the eastern collection of the Princes Vyazemsky and appreciate their contribution to the development of relations between the Middle East and Russia in the 19th century.

Project participants:
State Historical Museum
State Museum of Oriental Art
State Museum-Estate "Arkhangelskoye"
Serpukhov History and Art Museum
Russian State Archives of Literature and Art

Supported by:
Russian Historical Society,
Fatherland History Foundation