First, there is no proof that this artifact is not on display or that photography is not allowed in the hermitage museum, making this photo possibly replaceable. More importantly, this is surely not the only swan artifact in the whole world. I'm sure there are other artifacts that could be photographed and would serve the purpose of this photo in the article equally well. As such, this photo violates WP:NFCC1. Calliopejen1 (talk) 14:32, 19 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
As for the ban on photography, it's quite clear [1]. Amateur (i. e. no SLR, no flash, no tripod ... ) photography is allowed upon purchase of a special ticket for each shot. I seriously doubt that a P&S without flash will be able to record anything in the Hermitage darkness. NVO (talk) 17:23, 19 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
no source indicating actual copyright holder, no way to tell whether this image is actually PD (the most likely way it could be PD is if published before 1923, or if the creator died before 1946, but we don't know if either of these are true--he died 1951). Because of the dates he held office (pre-1923), it should be possible to locate an image that is verifiably PD. Calliopejen1 (talk) 16:48, 19 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
