I erected my royal palace there

The Manege of the Small Hermitage opened the first in the history of Russia exhibition of the art of ancient Assyria"I erected my royal palace there"organized by the State Hermitage and the British Museum, which has the best collection of Assyrian art in the world.

The exhibition presents monuments from all the significant palaces of the Assyrian kings, whose reliefs are considered the pinnacle of the development of Assyrian art. The exhibition includes objects of applied art discovered during excavations in the palaces of the Assyrian kings, including the famous ivory plaques that served as decoration of luxurious palace furniture or horse harness.

The purpose of the reliefs was to capture the deeds of the king in front of the gods, to glorify them in front of subjects and ambassadors of foreign powers. Replacing modern media, they were to demonstrate to every visitor to the palace the power and greatness of the king, his exploits and achievements, his efforts to maintain harmony and order in the world. Nameless ancient masters managed to create touching and attractive stone paintings that are among the greatest works of art in the history of human civilization.

Based on site materialsState Hermitage Museum.