The exposition “Italy.Archeology.China” launched at the State Museum of Fine Arts become a highlight in the cultural life of the capital.The reproductions of paintings and objects of folk applied art, as well as archaeological artifacts present the exhibition dedicated to the motto of 2018 "Turkmenistan - the heart of the Great Silk Road".
The exhibition organizers - the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, the Embassies of Italy and China - tried to focus on the key role played by the territory of our country in the history of the unique length and civilizational significance of the ancient caravan route.
During the opening of the exhibition “Italy.Archeology.China ” in the halls of the museum there were lively dialogues in different languages.Ashgabat residents and guests of the capital, representatives of diplomatic missions exchanged impressions in Turkmen, Russian, Italian, Chinese and English, which emphasized the thematic premise of the exhibition.
More than fifty photographs of unique exhibits, testifying to the interpenetration of Eastern and Western cultures, are presented in the Chinese section, which occupies a separate hall of the museum.
Among them is a jug covered with three-colored glaze with the image of the phoenix head.Experts believe that it was brought to China in the 6th century from Persia.
The glass bowl is made by the method of blowing, which was used in Byzantine times, i.e.in the 1st century AD in the Mediterranean region.Undoubtedly, the vase had come a long way before getting to China.
A large number of ceramic figurines, fresco paintings depicting caravaneer with camels, Byzantine coins, seals and many other everyday objects are all admired not only by their antiquity and sophistication, but by the idea of their transparent mission.
Chinese culture has enriched the West not only with the finest silks, but also with its technical discoveries - a compass, paper, typography, gunpowder, paper money, and all thanks to the Silk Road.
Visitors begin their acquaintance with the Italian exposition with a magnificent example of portrait painting - the paintings by Agnolo Bronzino “Portrait of Eleonora of Toledo with her son”, written in 1545.
A young beautiful woman of the Medici family in a luxurious brocade dress, depicted against the soft transitions of azure hues, magnetically attracts the eyes.Nearby is a photocopy of the famous fresco on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican “The Last Judgment”, on which Michelangelo Buonarotti worked for four years, from 1537 to 1541.
In the same series, we would like to note a miniature of the unknown author “A Muslim and a Jew Playing Chess”, dating from the 13th century.Al Haifam and the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei depicts the frontispiece of the book “Selenography”, dated 1647, whose heads are covered with turban.
It turns out, as evidenced by the information board, wearing an Oriental-style dress in those days in the West served as a sign of distinction and enlightenment.The numerous monuments of the past have been preserved on the territory of our country, - the ruins of ancient cities, fortresses, medieval mosques, and madrasas.
Many Parthian cities and villages were located on the route of the Silk Road, connecting the Mediterranean countries with China.One of the branches of the trade route passed through Margiana.
In the exposition hall of Turkmenistan, the eye catches the blue-and-blue portal of the Anauan mosque, destroyed by the Ashgabat earthquake and partially restored by restorers.The exquisite ornament gapes with white voids, but despite this, its subtle beauty is impressive.
The archaeological artifacts of Margiana, relating to the Bronze Age are in the center of the exhibition.Here are exhibited a clay statuette from the temple in Gonur-depot, a carved stone vessel, a male portrait, restored on the skull from one of the graves, a showcase with ritual objects and various accessories made of precious metals and ivory, ceramic ware.
A separate section is devoted to Parthia.Chinese travelers who visited Central Asia at the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st centuries BC reported that Parthia had in its possession about a hundred large and small cities with developed crafts and trade.
Visitors of the exhibition “Italy.Archeology.China " imbued with the atmosphere of interpenetration of cultures and traditions of the East and West. “The big is seen at a distance” - Sergey Yesenin’s verse line, which became winged, reflects the impression of the exposition, in which the civilizational role of the Great Silk Road, which gave impetus to the rapid development of trade and production, and also contributed to the exchange of knowledge and the emergence of diplomacy as a political and economic.