#hermitage

Dancing in front of Matisse in the Hermitage

Sarmatian Diadem, 1st century AD, Scythian Culture,

Found at the Khokhlach kurgan burial mount, Novocherkassk, Russia,

The diadem consists of three hinged parts, the whole surface inlaid with garnet and glass. In the center is an amethyst bust of a woman wearing a tunic and crowned with a gold wreath inlaid with almandine.

The upper edge of the diadem is decorated with a figurative frieze representing a ritual scene of sacred animals processing towards the Tree of Life. The lower edge is decorated with pendants bearing rosettes rimmed with gold beads, pearls and small plaques.

This diadem is a typical example of the eclectic art which combed both Classical features and elements of Sarmatian art. It was intended for ritual use and was associated with the cult of fertility.

Gold, amethyst quartz, almandines, garnets, turquoise, coral, glass, pearls, resinous mass.

H. 15 cm.; L. 61 cm.

Dagger with sheath, knife, and fork (1602)

The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

Type: Dagger

Dagger length: 38.0 cm

Blade length: 23.8 cm

Sheath length: 29.7 cm

Knife length: 17.0 cm

Fork length: 17.3 cm

Origin: Saxony (?), Germany

Material: steel, silver, wood, velvet, bone