Tactile replicas of rare exhibits were presented at the St. Petersburg State Hermitage Museum. Museum visitors can now touch copies of famous world masterpieces with their hands, MIR 24 reports.

This is the second such exhibition in the Hermitage. The focus of the exhibition is the Empire style and it takes place in the General Staff Building. The repository launched its first show dedicated to antiquity last year.

The authors of the project presented tactile versions of a porcelain vase from the Beauharnais service, created at the beginning of the 19th century, a console on legs with a mosaic panel and a mantel clock. All models are small copies of the originals, printed on a 3D printer, and then processed by sculptors. The vase and clock, for example, are 10% smaller than the original, and the table is several times smaller. The exhibits are accompanied by plaques with annotations in Braille and an audio guide.

“Our tactile layouts are designed not only for the blind and visually impaired. We expect that they will be touched by everyone who is interested in this, who wants to touch art,” Varvara Markevich, an employee of the development service of the State Hermitage noted.

The exhibition will run until October 15.

ORIENT news