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- [Narrator] St. Petersburg,
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a city of riches and revolution,
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and at it's heart a museum
with secrets dark and strange.
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Rasputin's real killer,
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the sex life of Catherine the Great,
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a disturbing cabinet of horrors
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and punctured skin that reveals
a long forgotten stories.
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Secrets hidden in plain sight,
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inside the State Hermitage Museum.
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(dramatic music)
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The Hermitage is one of the
largest museums on earth.
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Inside these walls are over three million
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treasures of art and archeology.
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You can spend days wandering the halls
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and see only a fraction
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of the museum's magnificent collection.
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Far from the public galleries,
in a secluded passage way,
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a locked door guards one of
the museum oldest treasures.
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It is not a Rembrandt or
Tsar's diamond-encrusted crown.
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These are human remains
with skin as black as night.
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In 1948, in the Altai Mountains of Siberia
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four corpses were discovered
within the permafrost.
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Subzero temperatures had preserved
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their bodies and their possessions.
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With skin blackened but still intact,
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they are natural mummies.
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Carbon dating revealed they
are over 2,000 years old.
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Researchers determined
they were men and women
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of an Iron Age tribe
known as the Scythians.
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The Hermitage is closed
today, the galleries empty.
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Curator of archeology Svetlana Pancevo
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will use this time for study
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hoping to add to our limited knowledge.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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Though little is known about the Scythians
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many Russians idolize them.
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In popular culture they are portrayed
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as freedom-loving riders of the steps.
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Some believe they were the first Russians,
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a pure race of noble warriors.
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Historical evidence
suggests the real Scythians
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were savage fighters,
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they took trophies on the battlefield.
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But their burial mounds also
suggest a more complex culture.
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A people with advanced tools
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and sacred objects of the finest gold.
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And then there is this strange object
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in a corner of the museum,
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believed to be the skin
of a Scythian chieftain.
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He is covered with tattoos of wild animals
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and mystical symbols.
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When the Hermitage revealed
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these fantastic designs to the world,
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they caught the attention of Canadian
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medical illustrator Dave Mazurski.
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- I've never seen
anything like them before
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and I just so struck by
how organic they were,
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how natural but abstract at the same time
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and they just all made sense together.
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First time I saw the Scythian tattoos
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I decided right away that,
that's what I wanted.
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- [Narrator] Dave has covered his body
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with the tattoos of
the Scythian chieftain.
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He is missing only one, this
illustration of leaping rams.
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Dave has come to St. Petersburg
to get the final tattoo.
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But first, he plans to
visit his inspiration.
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- And I knew that the body
that these designs came from
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was here in the Hermitage
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and it was kind of a dream
that I would see them.
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- There, Dave.
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Now, I'm going to show
you the famous tattoo
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from the Pazyryk burials,
how it is really looks.
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- It's incredible.
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I've seen some very
poor photographs of that
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but it's incredibly vivid,
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much more life-like than
I would have imagined.
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- [Svetlana] Is it
resembled to your tattoo?
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- Would you like to see
the rest of the tattoos?
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- Now?
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With great pleasure.
- Would you like?
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(both laughing)
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I think I should see it.
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(both laughing)
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- So I don't know if it.
- Oh.
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- If it lives up to
the, what you've thought
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or what your research indicates
about how they should look
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or how they should move.
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- I'm sure that when
you move your shoulders
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all the animals began
to move, began to jump.
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- [Narrator] Beyond revealing
the Scythians artistic side,
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Svetlana hopes the tattoos
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can tell us more about their society.
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- [Dave] Do you have any idea or theories
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about what they meant or?
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- They could be something like a language.
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They had no writing in
their societies, yeah?
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And so it was maybe the only way for them
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to transfer their traditions.
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- [Dave] They made them living stories.
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- [Narrator] Like most who
feel drawn to the Scythians,
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Dave wishes he could know more about them.
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And it turns out the mummies
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may have more secrets to reveal.
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Recently, a Russian forensic expert
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suggested their black skin
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might look different under infrared light.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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- Thank you for allowing into
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this part of the museum to show me.
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- Oh, you're welcome.
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- It's impossible to see any tattoos here
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but you have some technology
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that's now allowing you to see them.
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- How does--
- Yes.
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- How does it work?
- Yeah.
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The skin with tattoos
absorbs the infrared rays.
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The clean skin without
tattoos it reflects rays
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and we can see all that on our monitor.
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This mummy has tattoo
on her right forearm,
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on her left forearm and also
on her left thumb, here.
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- They're so beautiful, so delicate
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and impossible to see without that camera.
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What's interesting is these designs
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seem to be quite different
in a way from the designs
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that I've copied from
the other tattooed mummy.
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These are more organic,
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they kinda flow together
in a different way,
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almost a different style.
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- [Narrator] The tattoo shows
wild cats and their prey
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locked in a circle of life and death.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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The design could have been
borrowed from a Chinese traveler.
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But anthropological studies
suggest that this Scythian woman
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was herself of Asian descent.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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Facial structure analysis
has provided further evidence
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that the first Russians
were not a pure race at all,
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but a multi-ethnic society.
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So in a way, it is fitting
that a Canadian like Dave
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should have a complete
set of Scythian tattoos.
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As a man with skills and enthusiasm,
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there is every reason to believe
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he would have been welcomed
into the Scythian tribe.
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Up next, Peter the
Great's favorite things.
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(dramatic music)
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Today, the basement of the Hermitage
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is littered with shipping crates.
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Filled with treasures destined
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for a special exhibition in America,
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featuring this statue of the
man called Peter the Great.
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In St. Petersburg, the
city that bears his name.
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Peter the Great still lives,
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especially in the hearts of the people.
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- Even so many years have
passed since his death,
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I still feel myself like in the presence
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of the force of nature when
I start thinking about Peter.
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- [Narrator] Timofey
Kruglikov is a lecturer
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in Russian history.
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- For modern science,
he's a god-like person,
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and a person who was
able to do enormous work
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and had great plans
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which here nearly all of
them he got fulfilled.
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- [Narrator] 300 years
ago, as Tsar of Russia,
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Peter the Great transformed
a swampy fishing village
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into this monumental city of stone.
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- He didn't hesitate to sacrifice
lives of quite many people
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for the sake of his great idea.
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St. Petersburg was built
not on stones but on bones
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of those who died during
construction and Peter didn't care.
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According to the opinion
of Russian peasants,
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Peter was the demon,
the child of anti-Christ
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or even anti-Christ himself.
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- [Narrator] So, is he Peter
the Great or Peter the monster?
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That's the Museum Secret.
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We begin our investigation
by looking at his true face.
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(soft tingling music)
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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Sergey Nilov is the Hermitage curator
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for the Peter the Great collection.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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There is a local legend that
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when the Hermitage closes for the night,
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Peter stands up from his chair
and walks around the room.
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(speaking in a foreign language)
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Peter is now part of
the Hermitage collection
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and what was once his palace,
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and perhaps that's
appropriate because he himself
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was an avid collector of things like this.
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These are only a few of
shocking specimens on display
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in the Kunstkamera, Peter's
cabinet of curiosities.
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Such a collection suggests an
unhealthy interest in cruelty.
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How did Peter the Great developed
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such a twisted taste for the bizarre?
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As a young man, he toured Europe.
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In Amsterdam, against
the advice of his court
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he traveled incognito.
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He haunted the canals and
back streets of the city.
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He spent weeks in the dockyards.
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A shadowy figure observing the activities
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of sailors and shipmates.
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He met with men who traded in dead bodies.
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What was he up to?
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Peter returned to Russia
stuck in the middle ages
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with an obsolete military
and poor subjects
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who relied on superstition
to cure disease.
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But Peter came back with
a plan for modernization
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starting with Russia's Navy.
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- St. Petersburg was to become the place
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where his Navy program, big Navy program
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was to be developed.
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- [Narrator] Lionized in Russian movies
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as the hands-on Tsar,
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he shared the naval skills
he had learned in Amsterdam.
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- And everyday after Peter woke up,
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he rushed to ship yards, he
worked at least one hour,
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he worked at the construction of the ship.
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Sometimes as a ship
builder, as a carpenter,
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sometimes as an engineer.
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- [Narrator] He built advanced ships
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that were a match for
those of naval superpowers
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like Holland and England.
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And then he turned to
the problem of disease.
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He ordered his subjects to
learn the new science of biology
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as taught to him in Amsterdam
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by the great 17th century
anatomist Frederick Ruysch.
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Perhaps Peter's greatest
challenge was superstition.
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Many Russian believed that deformed babies
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were children of the devil.
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Peter was determined to
show that such abnormalities
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were not to be feared.
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- Peter just wanted to
show, to explain people
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that these things only can
be produced with nature
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and everything has this
or that explanation.
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- [Narrator] In this light,
Peter's monstrous collection
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does not make him a monster
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but that does not mean he was a good man.
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Not exactly.
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Mary Hamilton, a former
mistress of Peter the Great
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was sentenced to death for
killing her newborn child.
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She expected Peter to grant her a pardon.
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- And Peter came to the place
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where execution was to take place,
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came up to Mary Hamilton
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and whispered something into her ear.
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Everyone thought that she
would be released immediately
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but Peter loudly said, "Excuse
me, I cannot do anything,
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"because you deserve death
sentence according to the law."
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And then the executer did
his work, her head was off.
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Then Peter took the head,
kissed it, turned it to people
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and explained them the
anatomical structure of the neck.
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- [Narrator] That is vintage Peter.
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A good intention with macabre twist.
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Not good exactly but not entirely evil.
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We could call him,Peter the Complex
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but we suspect in light of
his incredible accomplishments
256
00:15:21,730 --> 00:15:25,483
that history will let him keep
the title of Peter the Great.
257
00:15:29,180 --> 00:15:33,633
Next on Museum Secrets, the sex
life of Catherine the Great.
258
00:15:41,140 --> 00:15:42,890
Even without the art,
259
00:15:42,890 --> 00:15:45,133
the Hermitage would take ones breath away.
260
00:15:47,350 --> 00:15:50,113
And if it looks more like
a palace than a museum,
261
00:15:51,170 --> 00:15:52,943
that's because it was a palace,
262
00:15:53,980 --> 00:15:55,680
the palace of Catherine the Great.
263
00:15:58,180 --> 00:16:00,290
Catherine came to power in a coup
264
00:16:00,290 --> 00:16:01,863
that took her husband's life.
265
00:16:03,310 --> 00:16:07,093
At a young age, she became
absolute monarch of all Russia.
266
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:10,970
Surrounded by nobles, advisors,
267
00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:13,720
ladies in waiting and armies of servants,
268
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,573
her days were full of
pump and circumstance.
269
00:16:18,070 --> 00:16:20,823
But Catherine found
court life deadly dull.
270
00:16:21,830 --> 00:16:24,773
She complained Russian
nobles were bores and boors.
271
00:16:26,860 --> 00:16:28,810
She longed for smart conversation
272
00:16:28,810 --> 00:16:31,913
with modern European thinkers
like Diderot and Voltaire.
273
00:16:34,290 --> 00:16:37,683
And she was hoping for more
than intellectual stimulation.
274
00:16:38,740 --> 00:16:40,680
She was looking for love.
275
00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,614
- So we're standing in front of a portrait
276
00:16:42,614 --> 00:16:44,490
of Catherine the Great,
277
00:16:44,490 --> 00:16:49,490
one of the two emperors who
was actually known as great.
278
00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:50,800
- [Narrator] But to her people,
279
00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,020
Catherine needed to
appear regal and strong.
280
00:16:54,020 --> 00:16:56,870
How could she meet and woo
an intelligent handsome man
281
00:16:56,870 --> 00:16:58,363
without causing a scandal?
282
00:16:59,630 --> 00:17:02,793
How could she rock her world
without rocking her empire?
283
00:17:04,290 --> 00:17:07,073
That is Catherine the
Great's Museum Secret.
284
00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:11,140
For starters, she built
a little getaway spot
285
00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:12,190
next to her palace.
286
00:17:12,190 --> 00:17:15,250
Well, little by Catherine's standards.
287
00:17:15,250 --> 00:17:18,723
This is the private refuge
she called the Petit Ermitage.
288
00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,840
In the sumptuous interior
she planned to hold
289
00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:28,290
invitation-only dinner parties
with an exclusive guest list
290
00:17:28,290 --> 00:17:31,730
of Russia's and Europe's
best and brightest.
291
00:17:31,730 --> 00:17:33,690
- She wanted to be here alone
292
00:17:33,690 --> 00:17:36,910
or with the closest people of her circle.
293
00:17:36,910 --> 00:17:39,160
Also it was the place
where she could enjoy
294
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,200
the freedom of communication
295
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,123
without taking into account your rank.
296
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:47,360
- [Narrator] To prove
she herself was modern,
297
00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:48,760
Catherine filled the walls
298
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,900
with cutting-edge European masterpieces.
299
00:17:51,900 --> 00:17:53,570
These works has became the foundation
300
00:17:53,570 --> 00:17:55,370
of the current Hermitage collection.
301
00:17:57,970 --> 00:17:59,480
But to really let loose,
302
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,873
Catherine needed to
solve one more problem.
303
00:18:03,250 --> 00:18:04,600
To hold a dinner party,
304
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,443
she required servants
to serve food and drink,
305
00:18:08,450 --> 00:18:12,160
but servants who saw their
Queen in adult situations
306
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,523
would surely gossip and create a scandal.
307
00:18:16,150 --> 00:18:19,033
How could Catherine solve
this difficult dilemma?
308
00:18:22,110 --> 00:18:25,010
These are the original
plans of the Petit Ermitage
309
00:18:25,010 --> 00:18:27,013
designed under Catherine's direction.
310
00:18:31,220 --> 00:18:33,010
It shows several shafts connecting
311
00:18:33,010 --> 00:18:36,143
a dining table on the upper
floor with machinery below.
312
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,630
In the Petit Ermitage today,
313
00:18:40,630 --> 00:18:43,113
the table and apparatus
are both long gone,
314
00:18:44,500 --> 00:18:48,080
but at Catherine's summer palace
she built a second Ermitage
315
00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,703
where similar mechanisms are still intact.
316
00:18:53,770 --> 00:18:57,600
The tables in this posh dining
room look perfectly normal
317
00:18:57,600 --> 00:18:58,723
but they are not.
318
00:19:00,330 --> 00:19:03,550
Below the floor, the tables
are attached to winches
319
00:19:03,550 --> 00:19:06,583
allowing servants to move
them up and down at will.
320
00:19:08,970 --> 00:19:12,793
As each table rises, the
floor retracts automatically.
321
00:19:15,070 --> 00:19:17,350
The mechanics of the system
were completely hidden
322
00:19:17,350 --> 00:19:19,210
from the guests who gathered upstairs
323
00:19:19,210 --> 00:19:21,450
in the baroque splendor
of the dining room.
324
00:19:23,850 --> 00:19:26,913
Each table would be set
but without food or drink.
325
00:19:28,180 --> 00:19:30,960
A guest would write their
order on their plate setting,
326
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:35,320
then pull a string to alert
the unseen servants below.
327
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:37,903
(bell ringing)
328
00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:43,433
Kitchen staff would read the
plate and fill the order.
329
00:19:45,890 --> 00:19:49,703
Whatever Catherine's guests
desired would ascend and appear.
330
00:19:52,470 --> 00:19:56,553
Service fit for a king without
a single servant in the room.
331
00:19:58,230 --> 00:20:00,290
After all were replete,
332
00:20:00,290 --> 00:20:02,660
another signal was relayed to the kitchen.
333
00:20:02,660 --> 00:20:03,493
(bell ringing)
334
00:20:03,493 --> 00:20:06,390
Servants lowered the tables
to return the floor to normal.
335
00:20:08,020 --> 00:20:10,540
These elevating tables
worked on the same principle
336
00:20:10,540 --> 00:20:13,653
as the single grand dining
table in the Petit Ermitage.
337
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,720
After dinner, when the
table magically disappeared,
338
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,940
the real party could begin
339
00:20:21,940 --> 00:20:24,333
without fear of gossip or scandal.
340
00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,990
- Those parts they could help people relax
341
00:20:28,990 --> 00:20:33,740
and just feel equal, feel that
she is another human being.
342
00:20:33,740 --> 00:20:37,670
They allowed Catherine
the Great to have a look
343
00:20:37,670 --> 00:20:41,133
at the future candidate to
become a favorite of hers.
344
00:20:42,270 --> 00:20:45,110
- [Narrator] Catherine had many favorites,
345
00:20:45,110 --> 00:20:48,890
Count Grigory Orlov, Grigory Potemkin,
346
00:20:48,890 --> 00:20:53,890
Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander
Lanskoy, Platon Zubov,
347
00:20:54,420 --> 00:20:57,580
soldiers and statesmen, young and old,
348
00:20:57,580 --> 00:20:59,393
Catherine love them all.
349
00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:02,760
Legend has it that each
suitor was field tested
350
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:04,360
by one of her ladies in waiting.
351
00:21:05,570 --> 00:21:08,693
The court's doctor would
ensure he was free of disease.
352
00:21:09,630 --> 00:21:11,090
Only then might he be allowed
353
00:21:11,090 --> 00:21:13,323
to enter the Queen's inner chamber.
354
00:21:16,570 --> 00:21:20,050
Thanks to the ingenious
mechanisms of the Petit Ermitage,
355
00:21:20,050 --> 00:21:23,823
Catherine could be a Queen and a woman.
356
00:21:24,940 --> 00:21:27,070
But though she had many lovers,
357
00:21:27,070 --> 00:21:29,600
she never took another husband.
358
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,303
She may have decided, who needs one?
359
00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,170
Next on Museum Secrets,
Rasputin's real killer.
360
00:21:39,170 --> 00:21:41,753
(gun shooting)
361
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,320
The curators of the Hermitage
are famous for the care
362
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,993
they lavish on the museum's masterpieces.
363
00:21:51,940 --> 00:21:54,253
They love every work of art dearly,
364
00:21:55,910 --> 00:21:59,553
all except one that is
not on public display.
365
00:22:00,730 --> 00:22:04,010
Galina Prinseva of the
Department of Russian culture
366
00:22:04,010 --> 00:22:05,617
has no time for it.
367
00:22:07,898 --> 00:22:11,981
(speaking in a foreign language)
368
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:26,680
Many Russians disdain this drawing
369
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,733
because of the man it portrays.
370
00:22:30,710 --> 00:22:32,193
Can you guess his name?
371
00:22:33,530 --> 00:22:35,990
His likeness was drawn in 1914
372
00:22:35,990 --> 00:22:38,683
by a lady in waiting to
the Empress Alexandra.
373
00:22:40,370 --> 00:22:41,413
Not sure yet?
374
00:22:42,930 --> 00:22:44,500
He came from peasant stock
375
00:22:44,500 --> 00:22:47,320
but was a major player
in the Russian court.
376
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:48,583
Still not sure?
377
00:22:49,630 --> 00:22:52,010
Look deep into his eyes.
378
00:22:52,010 --> 00:22:54,423
His name is Rasputin.
379
00:22:57,180 --> 00:23:01,060
Portrayed in movies like this
one as the satanic mad monk,
380
00:23:01,060 --> 00:23:04,003
faith healer to the last
of the Russian Tsars.
381
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,810
- Under hypnosis, he could
make you do whatever he wishes.
382
00:23:07,810 --> 00:23:10,160
He must be destroyed
before he destroys us all.
383
00:23:12,990 --> 00:23:14,990
- [Narrator] Rasputin whose dark powers
384
00:23:14,990 --> 00:23:18,240
were said to have kept him
alive even after he was poisoned
385
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,460
was then shocked by brave nobleman
386
00:23:20,460 --> 00:23:21,913
and drowned in an icy river.
387
00:23:24,530 --> 00:23:27,200
Almost everything we know
about Rasputin's death
388
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,210
comes from the memoir of a Russian noble
389
00:23:29,210 --> 00:23:30,873
named Felix Youssoupoff.
390
00:23:33,420 --> 00:23:36,690
Youssoupoff proudly admitted
that he murdered Rasputin
391
00:23:36,690 --> 00:23:39,743
to break his evil hold
over the Empress Alexandra.
392
00:23:41,290 --> 00:23:43,813
The assassination made
him a national hero,
393
00:23:45,460 --> 00:23:48,420
but British author Andrew
Cook doesn't buy it.
394
00:23:48,420 --> 00:23:51,740
With his help, we will
reveal a shocking secret,
395
00:23:51,740 --> 00:23:54,363
the identity of Rasputin's real killer.
396
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,180
- [Andrew] Here we are on the
banks of the Fontanka Canal.
397
00:23:59,180 --> 00:24:02,210
Just over here we have
the Youssoupoff palace
398
00:24:02,210 --> 00:24:04,700
which of course is where
the murder of Rasputin
399
00:24:04,700 --> 00:24:06,403
actually took place.
400
00:24:07,350 --> 00:24:08,920
- [Narrator] Today, Youssoupoff palace
401
00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:11,883
is one of the top tourist
attractions in St. Petersburg.
402
00:24:13,250 --> 00:24:16,793
The basement has been transformed
into a macabre diorama.
403
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,947
- This is the actual
basement room where Rasputin
404
00:24:21,947 --> 00:24:26,893
was shot and murdered on
the 16th of December 1916.
405
00:24:27,970 --> 00:24:31,250
Rasputin is about to tuck into the cakes
406
00:24:31,250 --> 00:24:32,470
and the Madeira wine
407
00:24:32,470 --> 00:24:36,220
both heavily laced with potassium cyanide
408
00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:38,780
but according to Youssoupoff's version,
409
00:24:38,780 --> 00:24:41,643
the potassium cyanide has
absolutely no effect on him.
410
00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:45,970
It was then at this point
according to his own version
411
00:24:45,970 --> 00:24:49,650
that he went upstairs,
brought down a pistol
412
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,438
and shot Rasputin in the heart.
413
00:24:53,438 --> 00:24:55,836
(gun shooting)
414
00:24:55,836 --> 00:24:59,450
The mortally-wounded Rasputin
manages to crawl on all fours
415
00:24:59,450 --> 00:25:02,210
up the wooden staircase through the door
416
00:25:02,210 --> 00:25:04,143
and run across the court yard.
417
00:25:06,370 --> 00:25:07,940
- [Narrator] Is there a
corroborating evidence
418
00:25:07,940 --> 00:25:09,233
for Youssoupoff's story?
419
00:25:11,180 --> 00:25:14,430
In police records dating
back almost 100 years,
420
00:25:14,430 --> 00:25:16,010
Cook discovered photographs
421
00:25:16,010 --> 00:25:18,083
from Rasputin's official autopsy.
422
00:25:20,790 --> 00:25:23,690
Youssoupoff said he shot
Rasputin right through the heart
423
00:25:23,690 --> 00:25:24,810
(gun shooting)
424
00:25:24,810 --> 00:25:27,870
but the autopsy reveals that
one small caliber bullet
425
00:25:27,870 --> 00:25:31,790
passed through his stomach and
another through his kidneys
426
00:25:31,790 --> 00:25:33,703
neither an immediately fatal wound.
427
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,510
And one photograph
reveals something obvious
428
00:25:38,510 --> 00:25:40,523
that Youssoupoff failed to mention.
429
00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:44,213
A larger bullet hole in the
middle of Rasputin's forehead.
430
00:25:45,660 --> 00:25:48,040
- It would have had resulted
in a massive exit wound
431
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:49,190
to the back of the head
432
00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,530
and that would have resulted
in an instant death.
433
00:25:53,530 --> 00:25:55,740
When you actually look at
this, and analyze them,
434
00:25:55,740 --> 00:25:58,270
you see very quickly that they totally
435
00:25:58,270 --> 00:26:02,670
and utterly contradict
Youssoupoff's story.
436
00:26:02,670 --> 00:26:05,430
The real revelation in terms
of the ballistics evidence
437
00:26:05,430 --> 00:26:07,790
is that there are three bullet wounds
438
00:26:07,790 --> 00:26:10,000
caused by three separate caliber weapons
439
00:26:11,300 --> 00:26:13,110
and most interestingly of all,
440
00:26:13,110 --> 00:26:15,930
the final and fatal shot to the forehead
441
00:26:15,930 --> 00:26:20,930
without doubt was caused by
an unjacketed lead round.
442
00:26:21,410 --> 00:26:25,173
And we can see in a braided
mark around the entry wound
443
00:26:25,173 --> 00:26:27,700
that when the entry wound
is actually measured
444
00:26:27,700 --> 00:26:32,450
it could only have been
caused by 0.455 weapon
445
00:26:33,620 --> 00:26:37,070
which is a Webley revolver
which was only carried
446
00:26:37,070 --> 00:26:41,002
by British military officers
during the first world war.
447
00:26:41,002 --> 00:26:42,930
(gun shooting)
448
00:26:42,930 --> 00:26:43,860
- [Narrator] But what would have a Brit
449
00:26:43,860 --> 00:26:45,073
have against Rasputin?
450
00:26:47,830 --> 00:26:51,078
In 1916, World War I was raging,
451
00:26:51,078 --> 00:26:53,266
(canons shooting)
452
00:26:53,266 --> 00:26:55,016
with Germany fighting on two fronts
453
00:26:55,870 --> 00:26:57,990
against the British and French to west
454
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:00,493
and Russia to the East.
455
00:27:02,530 --> 00:27:05,420
As a former peasant,
Rasputin was horrified
456
00:27:05,420 --> 00:27:08,523
by the deaths of millions
of Russian peasant soldiers.
457
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,283
He urged his empress to
make peace with Germany,
458
00:27:13,230 --> 00:27:16,470
a peace that would mean
a dark day for Britain.
459
00:27:16,470 --> 00:27:17,730
- What would have happened were
460
00:27:17,730 --> 00:27:20,850
that key German divisions
on the eastern front
461
00:27:20,850 --> 00:27:22,630
would have been very quickly transferred
462
00:27:22,630 --> 00:27:23,793
to the western front.
463
00:27:25,020 --> 00:27:29,160
The balance of power then would
have changed dramatically.
464
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,770
There's a very key
awareness I think in London
465
00:27:31,770 --> 00:27:35,910
that this man is effectively
the engine behind this drive
466
00:27:35,910 --> 00:27:38,600
to conclude an independent peace.
467
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:39,850
- [Narrator] Every British subject
468
00:27:39,850 --> 00:27:42,290
had a motive to kill Rasputin,
469
00:27:42,290 --> 00:27:44,810
and after the fact one British subject
470
00:27:44,810 --> 00:27:46,310
had a connection to the guess.
471
00:27:47,790 --> 00:27:50,480
The first edition of Felix
Youssoupoff's memoirs
472
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:55,110
shows a collaborator, a
man named Oswald Rayner.
473
00:27:55,110 --> 00:27:57,280
- I believe that his role in this book
474
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,570
was more than actually translating it
475
00:27:59,570 --> 00:28:01,310
from Russian into English.
476
00:28:01,310 --> 00:28:05,900
My own view is that
Rayner's motivation here
477
00:28:05,900 --> 00:28:08,430
was to create a cover story
478
00:28:08,430 --> 00:28:11,770
which in many ways has
survived to the present day.
479
00:28:11,770 --> 00:28:14,410
- [Narrator] According to
recently released documents,
480
00:28:14,410 --> 00:28:17,140
Rayner was a British Secret Service Agent
481
00:28:17,140 --> 00:28:19,790
posted to St. Petersburg
during World War I.
482
00:28:21,420 --> 00:28:26,303
He had motive, opportunity and
a British military handgun.
483
00:28:28,100 --> 00:28:32,020
- The Webley 455 was Oswald Rayner's,
484
00:28:32,020 --> 00:28:33,930
a British Intelligence Officer.
485
00:28:33,930 --> 00:28:36,450
We know that he was by his own admission
486
00:28:36,450 --> 00:28:38,003
at the scene of the murder.
487
00:28:39,390 --> 00:28:41,350
- [Narrator] Rayner could have
watched the Russian nobles
488
00:28:41,350 --> 00:28:44,303
wound Rasputin with their
small caliber pistols.
489
00:28:45,820 --> 00:28:48,040
- Neither of those guns could have caused
490
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,950
that final and fatal wound.
491
00:28:50,950 --> 00:28:52,763
It could only have been the Webley
492
00:28:52,763 --> 00:28:55,692
that was literally in the
hand of Oswald Rayner.
493
00:28:55,692 --> 00:28:58,410
(gun shooting)
494
00:28:58,410 --> 00:29:00,400
- [Narrator] This evidence is, we admit,
495
00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,240
purely circumstantial.
496
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,180
But there is one final
piece of the puzzle,
497
00:29:05,180 --> 00:29:07,660
a secret memo recently declassified
498
00:29:07,660 --> 00:29:09,130
sent to British headquarters
499
00:29:09,130 --> 00:29:11,303
by agent Rayner's Superior Officer.
500
00:29:12,347 --> 00:29:15,027
"Our objective has clearly been achieved.
501
00:29:15,027 --> 00:29:17,517
"Reaction to the demise of Dark Forces
502
00:29:17,517 --> 00:29:19,687
"has been well received by all."
503
00:29:21,350 --> 00:29:24,170
Andrew Cook believes taken as a whole,
504
00:29:24,170 --> 00:29:27,030
the evidence speaks for itself.
505
00:29:27,030 --> 00:29:30,933
And as far as he's concerned,
the case is closed.
506
00:29:34,390 --> 00:29:37,663
Up next, the secret of
the disappearing cats.
507
00:29:38,998 --> 00:29:41,498
(cat meowing)
508
00:29:45,030 --> 00:29:48,823
At the Hermitage, one finds
experts in many disciplines,
509
00:29:50,010 --> 00:29:51,450
including this specialist
510
00:29:51,450 --> 00:29:53,823
in the time wanted form of pest control.
511
00:29:58,260 --> 00:30:00,970
Cats have lived here for centuries,
512
00:30:00,970 --> 00:30:02,893
keeping the museum varmint-free.
513
00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,903
They are fed and cared for
by dedicated volunteers.
514
00:30:10,310 --> 00:30:13,470
But there was one brief
period in Hermitage history
515
00:30:13,470 --> 00:30:15,343
when cats where nowhere to be found.
516
00:30:17,220 --> 00:30:19,663
The reason for that is a Museum Secret.
517
00:30:23,170 --> 00:30:26,650
The story begins on June 22nd 1941,
518
00:30:26,650 --> 00:30:29,243
when St. Petersburg
was known as Leningrad.
519
00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:34,500
German troops attacked the Soviet Union
520
00:30:34,500 --> 00:30:37,200
and the country has plunged
into the second World War.
521
00:30:40,940 --> 00:30:43,563
Palaces outside the city
are bombed to rubble.
522
00:30:46,550 --> 00:30:47,953
The city is set on fire.
523
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,263
The Hermitage is marked for destruction.
524
00:30:59,290 --> 00:31:02,870
But the Hermitage refuses
to go down without a fight
525
00:31:02,870 --> 00:31:07,270
and a strategy is crafted to
save the museum's masterpieces.
526
00:31:07,270 --> 00:31:10,010
- The most treasured pictures were brought
527
00:31:10,010 --> 00:31:14,270
to the ground floor of
the new Hermitage building
528
00:31:14,270 --> 00:31:17,460
which had specially strong vaults.
529
00:31:17,460 --> 00:31:21,373
It was thought that it's
better to bring them there.
530
00:31:23,354 --> 00:31:25,140
- [Narrator] Valetina
Vacmenieva has been working
531
00:31:25,140 --> 00:31:27,463
at the Hermitage since 1949.
532
00:31:28,310 --> 00:31:31,630
She's a senior lecturer in
the Education Department.
533
00:31:31,630 --> 00:31:33,390
- If it were paintings,
534
00:31:33,390 --> 00:31:38,390
they were put into crates
which were divided with planks.
535
00:31:39,370 --> 00:31:43,040
There was a special cloth which made soft
536
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:47,240
and each picture had a special place
537
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:52,160
because the most important
was to make everything safe
538
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,803
and well-fixed during the transporting.
539
00:31:57,410 --> 00:31:58,850
- [Narrator] In just six days,
540
00:31:58,850 --> 00:32:01,433
curators crated half a million treasures.
541
00:32:02,530 --> 00:32:04,170
They packed them into special trains
542
00:32:04,170 --> 00:32:06,513
for transport to safety
in the Ural Mountains.
543
00:32:08,180 --> 00:32:11,103
It was a time of frantic
work and high emotion.
544
00:32:12,180 --> 00:32:16,000
- The Hermitage worker
looks at every piece
545
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,133
which is responsible for
as a teacher his child.
546
00:32:21,420 --> 00:32:25,850
Voltaire went down the main
staircase of the new Hermitage
547
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,600
just as we can see and he smiled.
548
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:35,600
And people ran to the upper
landing just all in tears
549
00:32:36,630 --> 00:32:37,463
to say goodbye.
550
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:40,280
- [Narrator] But even after the biggest
551
00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:42,210
art evacuation in history,
552
00:32:42,210 --> 00:32:44,130
there were still hundreds of masterpieces
553
00:32:44,130 --> 00:32:46,275
left in the Hermitage.
554
00:32:46,275 --> 00:32:48,470
(speaking in a foreign language)
555
00:32:48,470 --> 00:32:50,780
Irritated by Leningrad's resistance,
556
00:32:50,780 --> 00:32:53,490
Hitler ordered his forces
to encircle the city
557
00:32:53,490 --> 00:32:55,703
and erase it from the map.
558
00:32:58,294 --> 00:33:02,169
(speaking in a foreign language)
559
00:33:02,169 --> 00:33:04,720
Yevgeny Ukhnalev is a siege survivor
560
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:06,803
and a retired Hermitage architect.
561
00:33:08,329 --> 00:33:12,412
(speaking in a foreign language)
562
00:33:22,670 --> 00:33:26,490
The defenders of Leningrad
didn't leave their posts
563
00:33:26,490 --> 00:33:28,733
and neither did the Hermitage staff.
564
00:33:30,130 --> 00:33:32,000
They moved into the basement
565
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,520
and the Hermitage cats had new roommates.
566
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,520
- Altogether they had 12
shelters large and small
567
00:33:40,730 --> 00:33:44,483
and about 2,000 people
were in these shelters.
568
00:33:46,610 --> 00:33:47,443
Yes.
569
00:33:48,470 --> 00:33:49,923
Please come in.
570
00:33:52,210 --> 00:33:56,373
We are entering the arid
shelter number three.
571
00:33:57,300 --> 00:34:01,663
You must understand that no
electric light was in this room.
572
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:07,720
They had to furnish it
just when the war began.
573
00:34:08,890 --> 00:34:13,173
There were chairs, some
tables, beds made of wood.
574
00:34:15,020 --> 00:34:16,810
- [Narrator] Architect Alexander Nikolsky
575
00:34:16,810 --> 00:34:17,910
took out his sketch book
576
00:34:17,910 --> 00:34:20,453
to record daily life during wartime.
577
00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:23,730
These sketches are now part
578
00:34:23,730 --> 00:34:25,673
of the museum's permanent collection.
579
00:34:28,340 --> 00:34:30,230
As the siege dragged on,
580
00:34:30,230 --> 00:34:32,320
curators continued their work
581
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,893
caring for each artifact that remained.
582
00:34:35,950 --> 00:34:39,260
Every window was blown
out by bombs and shells.
583
00:34:39,260 --> 00:34:41,270
The ornate interiors were ravaged
584
00:34:41,270 --> 00:34:42,973
by exposure to the elements.
585
00:34:45,110 --> 00:34:48,200
Museum air wardens cleared
away heaps of broken bricks
586
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,873
and shard flooring after
each bombs struck home.
587
00:34:55,620 --> 00:34:58,640
Everyday spotters made
a long climb to the roof
588
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,763
to look for fires ignited
by incendiary bombs.
589
00:35:05,940 --> 00:35:07,710
Sentry boxes still stand
590
00:35:07,710 --> 00:35:09,940
where gunners waited
for Nazi power troopers
591
00:35:09,940 --> 00:35:11,623
to touchdown in the courtyard.
592
00:35:14,750 --> 00:35:17,233
Leningrad was entirely besieged.
593
00:35:18,530 --> 00:35:20,730
Hopelessness took hold.
594
00:35:20,730 --> 00:35:23,763
Hunger drove some defenders
to acts of desperation.
595
00:35:24,810 --> 00:35:27,793
Horses, dogs, and rats
were slaughtered for food.
596
00:35:29,730 --> 00:35:31,853
Even children were at risk.
597
00:35:32,808 --> 00:35:36,891
(speaking in a foreign language)
598
00:35:53,431 --> 00:35:58,264
At the Hermitage, the beloved
cats disappeared one by one.
599
00:36:00,850 --> 00:36:05,220
After almost 900 days of hell,
the Nazis were beaten back.
600
00:36:06,380 --> 00:36:09,173
The blockade was broken,
the city set free.
601
00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:12,680
In the bloody siege,
602
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:15,333
over half a million Russians
had lost their lives.
603
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,620
Leningrad was saved because her citizens
604
00:36:20,620 --> 00:36:22,370
were willing to die for their city.
605
00:36:25,690 --> 00:36:28,240
The Hermitage was saved
because her defenders
606
00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:29,773
were willing to die for art.
607
00:36:32,110 --> 00:36:34,120
After the war, the Hermitage veterans
608
00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,323
were determined to restore the
museum to its former glory.
609
00:36:39,780 --> 00:36:44,780
Today, the great works are
back, and so are the cats
610
00:36:45,170 --> 00:36:48,503
happily roaming the courtyards
and underground passageways.
611
00:36:50,470 --> 00:36:52,380
They were reintroduced after the war
612
00:36:52,380 --> 00:36:54,833
to repel an invasion pf rats and mice.
613
00:36:56,570 --> 00:36:59,100
The priceless treasures
saved during the siege
614
00:36:59,100 --> 00:37:01,230
are off limits to the cats.
615
00:37:01,230 --> 00:37:04,563
But aside from that, they
have the run of the place.
616
00:37:06,990 --> 00:37:09,000
Next on Museum Secrets,
617
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,293
how a black square
threatened the Soviet Empire.
618
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,993
The Hermitage is filled with
finely crafted objet d'art.
619
00:37:24,670 --> 00:37:28,213
Visitors come to marvel at
complex mechanical wonders.
620
00:37:31,514 --> 00:37:32,840
(crowd clapping)
621
00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,180
They are entranced by
the life-like portraits
622
00:37:35,180 --> 00:37:36,603
by the old masters.
623
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:39,993
And then, there's this.
624
00:37:40,870 --> 00:37:42,280
No, it isn't an empty frame
625
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:44,810
left over from the siege of Leningrad.
626
00:37:44,810 --> 00:37:46,350
No one has ripped out the canvas
627
00:37:46,350 --> 00:37:49,560
to leave a blank space behind.
628
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,340
It's a perfect square painted flat black
629
00:37:52,340 --> 00:37:54,703
by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich.
630
00:37:56,210 --> 00:37:58,523
So why is it hanging with the masters?
631
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,160
- [Russell] The black
square is so shocking
632
00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:02,450
sitting in the Hermitage
633
00:38:02,450 --> 00:38:05,253
amongst the Rembrandts and
of Rubens and the Van Dycks.
634
00:38:06,540 --> 00:38:08,050
- [Narrator] Russell Smith is a writer
635
00:38:08,050 --> 00:38:09,960
and culture commentator.
636
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,350
- It's a simple dumb black square.
637
00:38:13,350 --> 00:38:15,550
What is it doing among them?
638
00:38:15,550 --> 00:38:20,070
Well, it's just as influential,
a painting, as any of those.
639
00:38:20,070 --> 00:38:23,680
The black square influenced
generations of artists
640
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:27,160
working in reducing the forms of painting
641
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:30,750
to their bare minimum,
their bare essentials.
642
00:38:30,750 --> 00:38:31,940
The people who are influenced
643
00:38:31,940 --> 00:38:33,280
by these movements in Russian art
644
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:36,830
include some of the greatest
art of the 20th century.
645
00:38:36,830 --> 00:38:40,270
This is one of the revolutionary
paintings ever painted.
646
00:38:40,270 --> 00:38:42,330
- [Narrator] Revolutionary it may be,
647
00:38:42,330 --> 00:38:45,360
but you may be surprised
to learn that in 2002,
648
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:47,710
the Hermitage acquired the black square
649
00:38:47,710 --> 00:38:50,580
for one million dollars.
650
00:38:50,580 --> 00:38:51,730
- That's what this kind of thing
651
00:38:51,730 --> 00:38:55,310
that you think your two-year-old
could do is worth today.
652
00:38:55,310 --> 00:38:58,370
- [Narrator] Why is a black
square worth a million dollars?
653
00:38:58,370 --> 00:39:00,470
To reveal this Museum Secret,
654
00:39:00,470 --> 00:39:04,293
we must return to the blackest
period of Russian history.
655
00:39:04,293 --> 00:39:05,950
(bomb exploding)
656
00:39:05,950 --> 00:39:09,460
Not long after the Bolshevik
Revolution of 1917,
657
00:39:09,460 --> 00:39:13,553
communist ideals were twisted
into tyranny by Joseph Stalin.
658
00:39:14,930 --> 00:39:16,190
- When Stalin came to power,
659
00:39:16,190 --> 00:39:19,040
he decided that representational
660
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:21,490
soviet socialist realist art
661
00:39:21,490 --> 00:39:23,970
was going to be the official
art of the soviet people
662
00:39:23,970 --> 00:39:26,250
and that was art that
showed pictures of workers
663
00:39:26,250 --> 00:39:28,010
and peasants and soldiers working together
664
00:39:28,010 --> 00:39:29,173
in a very romantic way.
665
00:39:30,310 --> 00:39:31,730
- [Narrator] Stalin decreed art
666
00:39:31,730 --> 00:39:34,330
must be immediately understandable.
667
00:39:34,330 --> 00:39:37,463
It must not encourage
productive workers to think.
668
00:39:40,090 --> 00:39:43,470
And Malevich's paintings made you think.
669
00:39:43,470 --> 00:39:46,430
Stalin hated all of Malevich's work
670
00:39:46,430 --> 00:39:49,650
but he hated the black square most of all.
671
00:39:49,650 --> 00:39:54,060
- The black square is an
idea and Stalin hated ideas.
672
00:39:54,060 --> 00:39:58,810
Stalin hated anything
that he couldn't control.
673
00:39:58,810 --> 00:40:01,970
- [Narrator] Life became
difficult for Malevich.
674
00:40:01,970 --> 00:40:03,830
- Malevich was out of favor.
675
00:40:03,830 --> 00:40:06,190
He was pushed out of all of
his influential positions
676
00:40:06,190 --> 00:40:09,090
and institutions where
he worked and taught.
677
00:40:09,090 --> 00:40:11,010
And he was told that he
could no longer paint
678
00:40:11,010 --> 00:40:14,173
abstract geometric paintings
that were bourgeois.
679
00:40:15,110 --> 00:40:16,730
- [Narrator] By Stalin's order,
680
00:40:16,730 --> 00:40:19,130
Malevich was detained
here along with others
681
00:40:19,130 --> 00:40:21,713
who harbored
counter-revolutionary tendencies.
682
00:40:22,940 --> 00:40:24,780
Branded an enemy of the state,
683
00:40:24,780 --> 00:40:27,720
he was fingerprinted and
locked up without trial
684
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:29,503
in the notorious Kresty Prison.
685
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,810
Here, under Stalin's
orders political prisoners
686
00:40:33,810 --> 00:40:37,320
were subjected to solitary
confinement and sleep deprivation
687
00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,573
to aid with their re-education.
688
00:40:41,830 --> 00:40:45,140
We don't know what Stalin's
goons did to Malevich
689
00:40:45,140 --> 00:40:47,630
but after he was released from detention,
690
00:40:47,630 --> 00:40:50,543
he began painting in a more
politically correct style.
691
00:40:51,540 --> 00:40:53,843
It appeared as if Stalin had won him over.
692
00:40:54,820 --> 00:40:58,070
- He started doing shapes that
look like peasants and horses
693
00:40:58,070 --> 00:40:59,240
but they were very cubist
694
00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:01,170
and they were made with primary colors.
695
00:41:01,170 --> 00:41:04,480
And even in one of his
last portraits of himself,
696
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:06,529
a self-portrait from 1933,
697
00:41:06,529 --> 00:41:08,120
which is a very life-like portrait,
698
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,700
it's signed with a little
black square in the corner.
699
00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:13,133
The black square represented who he was.
700
00:41:15,193 --> 00:41:16,810
- [Narrator] Malevich's
original black square
701
00:41:16,810 --> 00:41:18,650
was hidden in a potato crate
702
00:41:18,650 --> 00:41:21,000
where it survived under
the post communist era,
703
00:41:22,530 --> 00:41:24,990
or at least that's the
story his family told
704
00:41:24,990 --> 00:41:27,533
when they offered it for sale in 1991.
705
00:41:28,930 --> 00:41:33,490
About the same time, several
other black squares surfaced.
706
00:41:33,490 --> 00:41:36,903
Art experts couldn't tell
which if any was genuine.
707
00:41:38,470 --> 00:41:40,810
But then on the Malevich family's painting
708
00:41:40,810 --> 00:41:42,793
someone noticed fingerprints.
709
00:41:45,110 --> 00:41:48,680
In the 1930s Stalin had decreed
that criminals fingerprints
710
00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:50,653
should remain on file forever.
711
00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:55,130
Malevich's fingerprints were retrieved
712
00:41:55,130 --> 00:41:56,803
and matched to this painting.
713
00:41:59,330 --> 00:42:02,740
Thanks to Joseph Stalin,
we know it's the real thing
714
00:42:03,690 --> 00:42:06,570
which leads us back to
our original question.
715
00:42:06,570 --> 00:42:09,700
Why is this black square
worth a million dollars?
716
00:42:09,700 --> 00:42:12,500
The answer it turns out is very simple,
717
00:42:12,500 --> 00:42:15,550
because these men are willing to pay it.
718
00:42:15,550 --> 00:42:18,520
They are the rich entrepreneurs
of the new Russia,
719
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:22,480
they value personal freedom
and hate Joseph Stalin.
720
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,973
To them, Malevich was a kind
of a artistic freedom fighter.
721
00:42:26,990 --> 00:42:28,020
So when one of them heard
722
00:42:28,020 --> 00:42:30,340
that the black square was for sale,
723
00:42:30,340 --> 00:42:32,343
they jumped at the chance to buy it.
724
00:42:33,670 --> 00:42:36,490
- It's only very recently
that Russian officials
725
00:42:36,490 --> 00:42:38,840
would have taken seriously
something like this.
726
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:41,600
They are lucky that they have
started to take it seriously.
727
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:43,640
They didn't think it was worth anything,
728
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:46,580
but a similar geometric
abstract painting by Malevich
729
00:42:46,580 --> 00:42:50,210
was sold in New York at
auction at Sotheby's in 2008
730
00:42:50,210 --> 00:42:53,340
for 60 million U.S. dollars.
731
00:42:53,340 --> 00:42:55,100
- [Narrator] When you look at it that way,
732
00:42:55,100 --> 00:42:57,653
a cool million is quite a bargain.
733
00:43:00,069 --> 00:43:02,650
(upbeat music)
734
00:43:02,650 --> 00:43:04,770
In this vast museum that has witnessed
735
00:43:04,770 --> 00:43:06,063
the history of a nation,
736
00:43:07,820 --> 00:43:09,483
for every mystery we reveal,
737
00:43:11,090 --> 00:43:13,423
far more must remain unspoken.
738
00:43:14,640 --> 00:43:16,830
Secrets that lift the human spirit
739
00:43:17,940 --> 00:43:20,423
and those that haunt our darkest dreams.
740
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:26,713
Hidden in plain sight, inside
the State Hermitage Museum.
741
00:43:31,497 --> 00:43:34,247
(dramatic music)
59470
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