Conference 2014

The 5th International Conference Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art was held in St Petersburg from 28 October to 1 November 2014. Organised by Saint Petersburg State University and Lomonosov Moscow State University in partnership with the State Hermitage Museum, it brought together 229 participants.

Images of Classical Antiquity

The conference theme, “Images of Classical Antiquity: The Art of the Ancient World and Its Heritage in World Culture”, approached antiquity both as a distinct artistic phenomenon and as a legacy repeatedly interpreted by later cultures. Discussion ranged from ancient art itself to its transformation in Byzantium, the European and Russian Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and art of the modern and contemporary periods.

The academic programme comprised the plenary session “Classical Antiquity — Life through the Ages, and the Age of Topicality”, nine thematic sessions, and panel discussions on the boundaries of the classical heritage and the place of contemporary art in the historical museum. Meetings at the State Hermitage Museum and SPbU were complemented by museum study, excursions, and concluding field seminars.

Conference programme overview

Emblem and publication

Alexander Bikhter's Nessus and Deianeira (2007) was chosen as the conference emblem. A detail from the work appeared in the programme and on the fifth volume of the conference proceedings.

Papers arising from the conference were published in Volume 5 (2015) of Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art. Its articles in Russian and English address the art of the ancient world, Byzantium, Western Europe, and Russia from the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, alongside questions of art theory.