World culture: A unique exhibition of British graphic arts opened in Petrozavodsk

A unique exhibition titled the "Time of Angels. Masterpieces of English engravings of the XVIII century" opens on June 11, 2015, at the Museum of Fine Arts (Petrozavodsk), introducing an audience to the greatest legacy of the English graphic art — the recognized masterpieces of world famous engraving cycle called "McLean Bible" in its full extent of all 70 full-page burin prints and 10 engraved vignettes.

"McLean Bible" is the most massive illustrated edition of the Bible, created in England by the graphics and paintings trader Thomas McLean. The outstanding painters and engravers of the time worked on this piece of book art: Philip James de Loutherbourg, John Opie, William Hamilton, Joshua Reynolds and others. Multivolume history of the issue is directly related to the epoch of the formation and development of the English school of painting.

The fact, that there is no such complete version of this series of engravings in Russian museums, underlines the uniqueness of this exhibition. The British Museum has collected, catalogued and in the most fully described all the works in this series.

The visitors, admiring the masterpieces of the English graphics, at the same time will get a chance to find out how Bible stories were put with the words of outstanding Russian poets of the past years.