Yesterday, I shared some avenues that you can use to visit museums virtually, while the institutions are officially closed over coronavirus concerns. If you’re ready for a longer tour, I suggest visiting Russia’s Hermitage Museum.
Recorded in a single take, the video—actually a five-hour promo for Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro new battery technology—allows you to wander through 45 halls and 2.5 million square feet of the Hermitage. You’ll see, and experience, nearly 600 works by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, and others—along with well-paced live performances and a music score by artists Anton Schwarz, MUJUICE, Katushiro Oguri, Gabriel Prokofiev, and Kirill Richter. The director was Axinya Gog.
Here are a few of the moments that caught my eye:
00:01:25 Jordan Staircase
00:49:00 The 1812 Gallery and the young cadet
02:06:02 See Rembrandt like never before
02:55:56 Hermitage Theatre contemporary ballet duet
03:03:50 Study the ceilings of the Raphael Loggias
03:56:25 Close-up on Caravaggio’s The Lute Player
04:50:32 Kirill Richter live performance
According to Tanner West writing for ArtNews, “The video was shot on a Monday when the museum is closed to the public. Though planned and rehearsed over the course of months, the film crew was given a single six-hour window to make the five-hour ad, meaning there was no room for mistakes. When they were done, there was still 19 percent of the battery left on the phone.”
I think we all could use some time away from current events these days so I hope you enjoy this. Be safe and take care of yourselves. And feel free to share and comment.