Montreal and Catherine's Hermitages
Back in Montreal and miles from the peace and quiet of Charlevoix, cars race by and honking disturbs the senses. Still I love this city and its unique feel and it is a great place for Lil and I to spend our last night on the road. We are used to traveling together but it is always sad to know that in a week I will leave her and head to Jordan.
One of my favorite places to go in Montreal is the Museum of Fine Arts and now is a great time to visit. Over 200 items collected by Catherine the Great of Russia and part of the Hermitage Museum are on display. Most amusing are some of Cathy’s Rules:
Catherine’s Hermitages
Did you know that, in the time of Catherine the Great, the word "hermitage" referred to the private receptions that the empress gave in her apartments of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg? She even drew up a code of behaviour much like that of an Enlightenment salon. Guests who failed to respect them might be fined or even excluded. At her death, the building she added to the Winter Palace contained close to 4,000 paintings, 38,000 books and 10,000 each of drawings and antique gems, not to mention countless prints, a theatre built by Quarenghi, an exact replica of her adored Raphael’s Loggia and a cabinet of natural history.
RULES FOR THE BEHAVIOUR OF ALL THOSE ENTERING THESE DOORS
1All ranks shall be left outside the doors, similarly hats, and particularly swords.
2Orders of precedence and haughtiness, and anything of such like which might result from them, shall be left at the doors.
3Be merry, but neither spoil nor break anything, nor indeed gnaw at anything.
4Be seated, stand or walk as it best pleases you, regardless of others.
5Speak with moderation and not too loudly, so that others present have not an earache or headache.
6Argue without anger or passion.
7Do not sigh or yawn, neither bore nor fatigue others.
8Agree to partake of any innocent entertainment suggested by others.
9Eat well of good things, but drink with moderation so that each should be able always to find his legs on leaving these doors.
10All disputes must stay behind closed doors; and what goes in one ear should go out the other before departing through the doors.
If any shall infringe the above, on the evidence of two witnesses, for any crime each guilty party shall drink a glass of cold water, ladies not excepted, and read a page from the Telemachida out loud.
Who infringes three points on one evening shall be sentenced to learn three lines from the Telemachida by heart.
If any shall infringe the tenth point, he shall no longer be permitted entry.
One of my favorite places to go in Montreal is the Museum of Fine Arts and now is a great time to visit. Over 200 items collected by Catherine the Great of Russia and part of the Hermitage Museum are on display. Most amusing are some of Cathy’s Rules:
Catherine’s Hermitages
Did you know that, in the time of Catherine the Great, the word "hermitage" referred to the private receptions that the empress gave in her apartments of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg? She even drew up a code of behaviour much like that of an Enlightenment salon. Guests who failed to respect them might be fined or even excluded. At her death, the building she added to the Winter Palace contained close to 4,000 paintings, 38,000 books and 10,000 each of drawings and antique gems, not to mention countless prints, a theatre built by Quarenghi, an exact replica of her adored Raphael’s Loggia and a cabinet of natural history.
RULES FOR THE BEHAVIOUR OF ALL THOSE ENTERING THESE DOORS
1All ranks shall be left outside the doors, similarly hats, and particularly swords.
2Orders of precedence and haughtiness, and anything of such like which might result from them, shall be left at the doors.
3Be merry, but neither spoil nor break anything, nor indeed gnaw at anything.
4Be seated, stand or walk as it best pleases you, regardless of others.
5Speak with moderation and not too loudly, so that others present have not an earache or headache.
6Argue without anger or passion.
7Do not sigh or yawn, neither bore nor fatigue others.
8Agree to partake of any innocent entertainment suggested by others.
9Eat well of good things, but drink with moderation so that each should be able always to find his legs on leaving these doors.
10All disputes must stay behind closed doors; and what goes in one ear should go out the other before departing through the doors.
If any shall infringe the above, on the evidence of two witnesses, for any crime each guilty party shall drink a glass of cold water, ladies not excepted, and read a page from the Telemachida out loud.
Who infringes three points on one evening shall be sentenced to learn three lines from the Telemachida by heart.
If any shall infringe the tenth point, he shall no longer be permitted entry.
posted by Kent E St. John at 7:40 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home