Russian Splendor

A stunning volume showcasing the magnificent court dress of the Russian Empire, culled from the authoritative collection at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, photographed with the Winter Palace as a backdrop. Prerevolutionary Russia was renowned for the glamorous and luxurious lifestyles of the nobility, with their opulent palaces and glittering social life. Now, this lavish volume reveals the incredible clothing they wore, from everyday dress and ceremonial attire (traditional holidays outfits and military uniforms) to dress for special occasions, including elaborate evening wear for theater and musical events and fancy masquerade balls. Celebrated for luxurious materials and impeccable craftsmanship, the dress of the Russian nobility was haute couture at its finest. With beautiful photography and details highlighting the hand-spun silks and lace and jeweled embroideries, Russian Splendor highlights the glamour of this gilded age and offers a fascinating window into a vanished world. Essays by Hermitage Museum curators, alongside historic Russian paintings and photographs, place the clothing in a historical context, revealing the rich cultural layers and artistic influences of czarist Russia."For a trip to colder climes, Russian Splendor mines the portraits, objets and costumes in the State Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg for a touch of fur-trimmed luxury of the 19th-century Imperial Court."
—The New York Times

"This book features a plentiful selection of photographs and a history written, brilliantly, by four curators of the museum’s historical costumes department, who locate the costumes in the life of the court and its ceremonials . . . The narrative is wonderfully enriched by quotations from the memoirs and letters of courtiers and visitors who recorded moments from the lives of royal and aristocratic personages." 
—Art News

"A stunning volume showcasing the magnificent court dress of the Russian Empire, culled from the authoritative collection at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, photographed with the Winter Palace as a backdrop."
—City Book Review

"With beautiful photography and details highlighting the handspun silks and lace and jeweled embroideries, this book highlights the glamour of this gilded age and offers a fascinating window into a vanished world. Essays by Hermitage Museum curators, alongside historic Russian paintings and photo-graphs, place the clothing in a historical context, revealing the rich cultural layers and artistic influences of czarist Russia."
—Antiques And The Arts Weekly Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky has been the director of the State Hermitage Museum since 1992 and has dedicated his career to making the treasures of the museum accessible to individuals and institutions around the world. Georgy Vilinbakhov, Evelina Tarasova, Tamara Korshunova, Nina Tarasova, and Julia Plotnikova are top researchers and curators at the Historic Costume Department of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.