To keep it short: I expected more.
It starts in the 13th century and ends with Catharina the great.
Don't read me wrong, the religious items, pictures and paintings are amazing (especially the two of Potemkin, the huge one of Peter the Great and the famous one of Catharina with her husband and son holding a cat).
The maps of Europe and that of St Petersburg (and the buildings) were also magnificent.
The problem was the after Catharina teh Great there was nothing more. And the texts were just wrong.
Oke, I know some about Catharina the great and Potemkin, but it was all just too politically correct.
The shop had amazing books, I wanted to buy almost everything...until I noticed they were for 98% in French, 1,5% Dutch and 0,5 English.
I liked the items of Ivan the terrible and Anastasia's beaker.
What I have to add is that although there are too much groups with giudes who can annoy you as a single visitor (or in my case + boyfriend) they know what they're talking about.
I for one thing overheard why the horses look so small on the Ivan-paintings: because small horses could survive the winter better.
For this exhibit I give this advise: go alone if you know wh&t it's about, take the guide if you do't know what it's about. Don't trust the texts, normaly they are in three languages, but the are so many mistakes, that some are anly in French or miss stuff.
What was amzing too, was the curioucity cabinet of Peter the Great. All the scientific equiptment. The by-pieces on hard water were just scary. I still see that poor baby's head in hard water when I close my eyes.
http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=5627&
