Hermitage A unique collection of masterpieces of world art.
Palace on the Palace square.The palace was created by Rastrelli in 1754-1762. Later the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage and the Hermitage theatre were built. The history of the Hermitage began in 1864 when Empress Catherine II purchased the first collection containing 225 Dutch and Flemish paintings. The collection was exposed in the Small Hermitage.
Then the Empress gave an instruction to buy all
More than 3 million people visit the Hermitage every year. the valuable works of art in the auctions. Russian ambassador in France Dmitry Gollizin made a big contribution to the museum collection. Thanks to him the museum owns such masterpieces as “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt, two paintings of Danaë (by Tiziano and by Rembrandt) and many others. Today the visitors of the Hermitage in St.Petersburg can see paintings of famous French masters Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Nicolas
Poussin and Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and other painters. Special attention is paid to the hall exposing two out of the 14 works by Leonadro da Vinci.The museum stores 26 works by Rembrandt and 42 works by Rubens.
In the Hermitage you can feel yourself a special guest, you can plunge into the unique atmosphere of the emperor’s époque: before 1852 only the elite could visit the Hermitage. Visitors booked the tickets in the court chancery and put on gala uniform to visit the museum. Free entrance to the Hermitage was opened only in 1863.
Before the revolution all the collections were exposed in the New Hermitage; the other buildings served a residence of the tsar’s family. During the Soviet period the collection of the museum expanded fourfold and occupied 5 buildings of the Hermitage. The museum includes also the Menshikov Palace and the General Staff Building.
St.Petersburg Hermitage is one of the most famous museums of the world. Its collections count about 3 million pieces, including paintings, sculpture, works of applied art and antiquities.
More than 3 million people visit the Hermitage every year
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AUTUMN 2012
he world-famous Hermitage with its unique collection of world art is situated in St.Petersburg, the city of arts and culture. Every year the museum organizes new exhibitions in cooperation with the largest museums of the world.
The Hermitage is one of the largest museums of the world; its exposition occupies more than 350 halls. The ceremonial halls of the palace are of special cultural and historic value. The collections of the Hermitage presenting culture and art of the primitive societies, the antique world, countries of the Western Europe, Oriental countries and Russia count several million pieces.
In the original historic interiors of the former residence of the Russian monarchs you can see masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello Sanzio, Tiziano Vecellio, Rembrandt, Rubens.
The Hermitage possesses one of the richest collections of Dutch paintings, an outstanding collection of French painting of the 19th and the 20th centuries. The museum stores unique collections of the ‘Scythian Gold' and pieces of Greek jewelry art.
The museum occupies five buildings located in the very center of St.Petersburg, near the Palace square, along the embankment of the Neva. The most famous part of the museum is the Winter