Dear Friends!

Take a trip to our virtual museum during your coffee or tea break and make your #quarantinediscoveries!

Admire unique cultural assets of the Museum Fund of Ukraine!

The Preserve's collection contains a unique documentary monument - a glass photographic negative (13×18 cm). It captured the civil funeral of one of the founders of the Museum Affairs in Ukraine - Danylo Shcherbakivsky. Well-known Ukrainian intellectual, art expert, ethnographer, museum worker, teacher, he made a lot of efforts to form museum collections, as well as to ensure their research and preservation. From 1910 until the end of his life he worked at the Kyiv Museum (now - the premises of the National Art Museum of Ukraine). The body of the scientist with a stone around his neck was found near Eugenia Bosch Bridge on the Dnieper River (which existed in Kyiv until 1941 next to the current Metro Bridge). This resonant death, caused by conflicts and misunderstandings among the museum staff, preceded the terror of the 1930s. At that time, many scientists were arrested, including Petro Kurinny and Fedir Ernst.

Danylo Shcherbakivsky was buried on the territory of the All-Ukrainian Museum Town (now - our Preserve) on June 11, 1927. Among the many Ukrainian intellectuals present at the funeral was the artist Vasyl Krychevsky, the husband of the sister of the deceased, Yevhenia Krychevska, née Shcherbakivska. The photo negative captures them near the coffin of Danylo Shcherbakivsky in the Refectory Chamber of Sts. Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk Church. A photoprint of this negative is preserved in the collection of Dmytro Antonovych Museum-Archives in UVAN in the USA.

In 1934, the grave of the art expert was razed to the ground. It was not until 1993 that museum workers restored a symbolic tombstone in the square near the water blessing ciborium, facing the entrance to the Great Lavra Bell tower.

Photo:

Fig. 1. Danylo Shcherbakivsky. Early 20th century. [NA IA NAS of Ukraine, f.10, file 54, page 19]. Fig. 2. Danylo Shcherbakivsky among colleagues on the territory of the All-Ukrainian Museum Town. 1926 Standing: Antin Onyschuk (1883–1937), Pavlo Popov (1890–1971), Dmytro Revutsky (1881–1941), Petro Rulin (1892–1940/1941), Olena Kurylo (1890–1946?), Danylo Shcherbakivsky (1877–1927), Lydia Shulgina (1897–1938?), Viktor Petrov (1894–1969); sitting: Vyacheslav Kaminsky (1869–1938), Vasyl Lyaskoronsky (1859–1928), Andriy Loboda (1871–1931), Klyment Kvitka (1880–1953), Porfiry Demutsky (1860–1927). [NA IA NAS of Ukraine, f. 9 (Danylo Shcherbakivsky)].

Fig. 3. Photoprint from the photo negative on the glass "Civil funeral after the death of Danylo Shcherbakivsky in the Refectory Chamber of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra", 1927 [KPL-N-1512]

Fig. 4. Restored tombstone of Danylo Shcherbakivsky on the territory of the Preserve, 2019 [Photo credit Alexandra Buzko].

Let’s #stayathome and discover the beauties of the Preserve’s collection together!

#museumfromhome, #museumcoffeebreak, #museumteabreak