State Hermitage

The State Hermitage Museum occupies five magnificent buildings along the Neva River Embankment in the very center of Saint Petersburg. They are the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Large Hermitage, the New Hermitage, and the Hermitage Theater. The part of the museum’s exposition is displayed in the Palace of Alexander Menshikov and in the General Staff Building in the Palace Square. The Winter Palace, the official residence of Russian emperors, occupies the leading place in the whole ensemble.

The State Hermitage features one of the largest art collections in the world. It numbers about 3 million items, including masterpieces by outstanding artists. Its collection includes culture objects embracing the period from the Stone Age to modern times.

In 1762 Catherine II became the Empress of Russia and the owner of the palace. It was her who started the Hermitage collection by purchasing the first collection of paintings. Such art experts as Diderot, Voltaire and other connoisseurs of European painting helped Catherine to acquire the best works for her collection. A very narrow circle of people could admire the paintings kept by the Empress in her palace. Catherine the Great called it the Hermitage, the French word that means «hermit’s dwelling».

The halls of the first storey of the New Hermitage contain the works by Antique sculptors, as well as collections of Greek and Etruscan vases. One of the richest museum departments is dedicated to Italian art. Renaissance masterpieces are displayed, the gems of the collection include Madonna Litta and Madonna Benois by Leonardo da Vinci. In the Hermitage, one can admire works by Raphael, Titian, Giorgione, and Michelangelo. In the Spanish halls one can see the paintings by Velasquez, Murillo, El Greco. Dutch and Flanders art is represented in canvases by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Snyders. The Hermitage boasts a great collection of French paintings, including works by Fragonard, Greuze, Chardin. The museum also possesses a valuable collection of impressionists and postimpressionists: Renoir, Picasso, Van Gogh and others.