theatre. A theatre.
Careful!
I think I know where we are.
How pretentious they are!
Don't Iag behind, sir.
I'm not, I think we're speaking too loudly,
No matter. They're completely deaf.
I'm careful. I won't touch anyone.
Theatre.... What actors!
And those costumes!
Thank you, sirs. Thank you.
They can't see me.
This seems Iike the Vatican.
Is that where we are?
Those reliefs are painted, are they not?
What naturalism!
Weren't those decorations inspired
by Raphael's sketches?
Raphael, yes,
Better than the Vatican,
This is Saint Petersburg,
So they're copies?
Your authorities don't trust
your own artists.
Russians are so talented at copying!
Why?
Because you don't have ideas of your own.
Your authorities don't want you
to have them.
In fact, they are as Iazy
as all the rest of you.
Lazy!
There was a painting gallery here.
-On the upper floor,
-With 111 Italian paintings.
-But not the best masters.
-Not the best,
The tsars were mainly Russophiles,
But sometimes even they dreamed of Italy,
Wasn't the Hermitage created
to satisfy those dreams?
-Raphael isn't for you.
-Not for us,
-For Italy.
-Italy,
-It's warm there!
-Warm,
What beauty!
The small Italian gallery....
Who are these people?
Of which milieu are they?
Do you see that vase?
Yes! Empire style is everywhere.
-And those Voronikhine lamps,
-Lamps....
Empire, Empire, Empire!
I have no enthusiasm for it.
That style is too silly.
Don't forget it was born under Bonaparte.
Then it became fashionable here...
to the point of becoming the national style...
to the detriment of its originality.
We battled Napoleon, not the Empire style,
Who are they? Who are these people?
Petersburgers, of when the city
was no longer a capital,
It's better that way.
A capital city should be...
an ancient city Iike Moscow. Not a Chimera.
-Who are these people?
-Should I introduce you?
-Only if it's not impolite.
-No, they are friends,
Oleg Konstantinovich, medical professor,
Lev Mikhailovich, actor,
Shouldn't they rise?
My European friend, he is visiting Russia,
-My pleasure.
-He's European,
Medicine is a fine profession.
I haven't spoken for years.
Aside from my new accomplice.
Such a Iong time.... What is that odour?
Odour?
A curious odour.
Have you been in Saint Petersburg Iong?
Yes, for one hour.
-And you came straight here?
-I had my reasons.
You must Iove art!
Are you interested in beauty
or just its representation?
No, Marquis. We're here to rest.
"Marquis"?
How do you rest?
Today, we've come together.
It smells of formaldehyde.
Formaldehyde,
Marquis, I'II show you a splendid painting.
These men are emitting
a very strange odour.
Marquis, Iook at
The Birth of John the Baptist.
The Marquis smells of formaldehyde.
Is he alive?
No, it's you.
I know this painting.
I saw it on my Iast visit here.
It comes from Paris,
from the Crozat collection.
Catherine II acquired it in 1772.
One of the earliest pieces
of the Hermitage collection.
Such information is for specialists.
For us, detail is more interesting.
Look closely here.
A chicken and a cat are in the foreground.
They are symbolic figures.
The chicken represents greed, avarice...
the cat, cynicism and cruelty.
Cynicism and cruelty,,,, The cat,,,,
They are both calmed by the birth of John.
How interesting.
Why is he dressed Iike that?
CIeopatra, for example....
What do you know of her?
Massimo Stanzione....
CIeopatra is on the same wall...
as The Circumcision of Christ
by the pious Lodovico Cardi.
-What bothers you?
-Bothers me?
Right next to Saint Cecilia?
Can you imagine!
By Carlo Dolci!
And next to Eastern Still Life!
-Why does that bother you?
-Don't argue, OIeg.
As a Catholic, that shocks me.
What do you think of Wagner?
Who is Wagner?
OIeg, he doesn't know Wagner!
Wagner is that child who behaved badly...
with my best friend, Meyerbeer.
I have never Iistened to Wagner.
-Broaden your horizons!
-That