The Russian president's wife, Svetlana Medvedeva, has visited the National Gallery and the State Museum of Armenian History. Together with the Armenian president's wife, Rita Sargsyan, assisted by Armenian Minister of Culture, Asmik Pogosyan, Medvedeva observed the exposition of the two main museums of Armenia, located in the building on the central square of Yerevan, ITAR-TASS reports.
The deputy head of the National Gallery, the respected arts figure Asmik Arutiun, said that the two museums are closely connected with Russia.
Medvedeva observed a collection of the works of the Russian artist of Armenian origin, Ivan Ayvazovski. This is the second collection of the artist's work after the one in Theodosia.
She viewed the works of well-known Armenian painters Vardges Suveryants, Gevork Bashinjanyan and the Phanos Terlemezyan.
The Svetlana Medvedeva and Rita Sargsyan headed to the State Museum of Armenian History, where the exhibition ‘From the paleolithic to the Bronze Age’ is located. It consists of over a thousand items discovered during archeological expeditions of the last 100 years. They include tools, iron items, neolithic clay pots, statues, golden jewelry and other Bronze Age items.
At the center of the exposition is a leather shoe discovered by Armenian archeologists dating from around 3500 BC. It is considered one of the oldest shoes in the world, noted the head of the museum, Anelka Grigoryan. A 3000-2000 BC four-wheeled cart can also be seen here, which was found on the bottom of Lake Sevan.
Medvedeva was especially interested in the text of the document of Empress Catherine the Great of 1779 New Nakhchvan (one of Rostov-On-Don's regions) and an 1802 decree of Russian Tsar Alexander the First, confirming the privileges of Armenian citizens of the city.
Svetlana concluded her visit with the exposition of Armenian national costumes, carpets and ceramics. She thanked the guides and presented the museums with albums about the Russian Kremlin.
