History of Russia: Exhibition "Alexander Nevsky, Prince and Saint: Imagery and Symbolism" to open at the State Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg

On May 27, 2021, the State Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg will launch the exhibition "Alexander Nevsky, Prince and Saint: Imagery and Symbolism".

This exhibition marks the 800th birth anniversary of Alexander Yaroslavich, Prince of Novgorod and Pskov, Grand Prince of Vladimir, hero of the Battle of the Neva and the Battle on the Ice, a talented commander and diplomat.

Locally recognised as a saint in 1361, he went on to be officially canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547. Alexander Nevsky is venerated as a defender of Russia and prayer for the Russian land.

The exhibition features around 150 works of art dating back to the XIII – XX centuries from the State Hermitage Museum. Most of them are associated with the imperial period of Alexander Nevsky’s veneration when he was made patron saint of Saint-Petersburg during Peter the Great’s reign. The central piece of the exhibition is a silver reliquary commissioned by Elizabeth Petrovna. Also on display are rare artefacts from the lifetime of Alexander Nevsky himself, as well as Soviet and modern objects.