The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg has agreed with the Russian Orthodox Church to return the silver sarcophagus of Saint Alexander Nevsky to the cathedral of the same name, also in Saint Petersburg.
The sarcophagus is encased in a magnificent Baroque silver monument, the largest silver monument in the world, commissioned by Empress Elizabeth in 1743. The pyramid-like construction is 16 feet tall and topped with angels holding shields registered. There are two plinths on either side supporting arms and banners, two massive candelabras, and the box-shaped sarcophagus, itself decorated with battle scenes in high relief and surmounted by a crown and a broken sword. It was designed by court portrait painter Georg Christoph Groot and currently decorates a wall in the Hermitage concert hall.
Alexander Nevsky was a hero of the 13th century Russian wars and was declared a saint in 1549. Peter the Great chose him as patron saint of Saint Petersburg and commissioned the construction of the cathedral. The monument stood there for almost two centuries until the religion was banned by the Soviets. Over the past 100 years, the Hermitage has saved the monument from destruction four times. It was moved to the museum for an exhibition to protect the church’s silverware from melting down in 1922 and it was threatened on three other occasions.
“The Hermitage agreeing to hand over a masterpiece of world art to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery is a striking event of global significance,” said Mikhail Piotrovsky, the director of the Hermitage. “The Hermitage starts from an understanding that at the current geopolitical moment, the reunification of the relics with the tomb on the territory of the monastery has acquired special importance for the fate of the country and social peace within it. Today , the religious significance of the artifact is more important than its artistic value.For decades, the situation has been the other way around.
Piotrovsky was vocal on his support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying in interviews that “it is important for me to be with my country when it makes a historic choice”.
This week’s agreement stipulates that the Hermitage cedes the monument for 49 years with the possibility of extension. It also stipulates that the church must ensure the atmospheric conditions necessary for its conservation. The tomb is currently the property of the Russian Museum Fund, which owns all the Hermitage exhibits, and has been donated to the church. The deal was endorsed by the Culture Ministry and Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has close ties to President Vladimir Putin and also supports his war effort.
“The Hermitage once again offers the world a specific recipe for the solution of one of the world’s most pressing problems – the return of cultural treasures, making its contribution to a discussion, at the sharp end of which lies the famous Parthenon frieze in the British Museum,” Piotrovsky added.
The answer, he argues, is, essentially, to make a transfer only when the current owner has been satisfied that the recipient will keep the treasure safe using atmospheric and other modern preservation methods.
“The main criterion for the fate of cultural artifacts is not the physical location, but the preservation of the object within the sphere of the museum field or outside of it,” he concluded.
• Geraldine Norman is the author of The Hermitage: The Biography of a Great Museum (1997). She is the founder of the bi-annual magazine Hermitage and the Hermitage Foundation UK, which ceased operations when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
