Product Details

• Writers: Rod MacLeish
• Producers: Daniel Wilson, John Baehrend
• Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 3
• Studio: Homevision
• VHS Release Date: June 6, 2000
• Run Time: 162 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303154506
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,983 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This second in Rod McLeish's three-part video series on the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg highlights the turbulence of the 19th century, both in arts and politics. The Gallery of Heroes, added to the museum in 1815 by Alexander I, celebrates in painting Russia's victory over Napoléon's armies--who only three years hence had seized Moscow. McLeish details Alexander's additions to the Hermitage with French and Spanish collections. Under Nicholas I in 1837, the Hermitage burned to the ground--but every work of art inside was saved. The structure was rebuilt within 15 months, and Nicholas was able to transform the Hermitage from a palace proper to a museum, including an addition specifically for his Roman sculpture. McLeish's narrative intertwines history with art; increasing political instability under Alexander II and Alexander III led to a kind of xenophobia that brought the first Russian Gallery to the Hermitage as well as the archeological treasures unearthed in Ukraine--impressive pre-Indo-European Scythian gold work. Perfect for both the history aficionado and the art lover, Tyrants and Heroes: 19th-Century Czars is a provocative and entertaining document on the art and history to the end of the Imperial era. --Erik Macki

Product Description

The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, houses one of the world's greatest collections of art. Once the palace of czars, each of whom added treasures to this incomparable collection, the Hermitage has been known to Americans mostly by reputation. In this unprecedented three-part series, noted commentator, journalist, and critic Rod MacLeish takes the viewer on a journey through 300 years of history and art as he explores this magnificent treasure house.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling and informative, October 1, 2001

By 

George Zee (www.frzee.org, Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hermitage: Russian [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Please read the informative editorial reviews given for the separate single tapes. I just wish to endorse this set of 3 tapes which are very worth watching. You not only get exposure to so many diverse and exquisite treasures of the collections, a feel for the whole museum, but also a pictorial and enthralling account of the Russian history as the background to the development and crisis of the museum. There is no analysis of any individual masterpiece. It is an excellent introduction to anyone interested in St. Petersburg and the Hermitage Museum.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Impressive Accomplishment, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hermitage: Russian [VHS] (VHS Tape)

These three tapes do a fine job of placing the development of the Hermitage within the context of Russian history. Having viewed "The Face of Russia" 3-tape series just a few weeks before, I found this series to be substantially better, although more limited in its scope.

Since writing the foegoing, Russian Ark: The Masterworks Edition has come out, a wonderful film cetered in the Hermitage. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best documentary of the Hermitage Museum, June 22, 2008

By 

Todd Nolan (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hermitage: Russian [VHS] (VHS Tape)

After viewing every video/DVD about the Hermitage that I could get my hands on since Christmas, I can say this one is the best. While others had some facet that detracted from the whole, such as over-analysis of individual works of art, inappropriate background music, bad camera work, unbalanced history examples, etc., this production excelled on every level. MacLeish's narration is heads above the other academics chosen for their respective docs, the soundtrack is pitch perfect with selection for the corresponding pieces or art, architecture of the museum itself, other parts of St.Petersburg or just the still photos as they help to explain Russian history, not only the museum's history. And the mix of it all, done so well, makes this the perfect documentary for students of Russian history, whether one has any interest in art or the Hermitage museum or not. I sought it out for the museum, but its presentation of the country's history is reason alone to purchase it, if you can't borrow it from your local library.

While the other videos/DVDs, most listed here on the amazon site, were disappointing in one way or another, a book about the museum "The Hermitage: The Biography of a Great Museum" by Geraldine Norman, is the next best thing for a companion piece. I'd leave the other documentaries alone, grab this wonderful 3-volume video set ($3.75 !) and try your local library for the Norman book. Both highly recommended.