Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage Museum is located in the Winter Palace, which was built between 1754 and 1762. The palace, with its rectangular ground plan and beautiful façade, is characteristic of mid 18th century Russian Baroque architecture. It was partly destroyed by fire and the architects responsible its reconstruction introduced many innovations in its decoration. The museum's collection began to take shape in the 18th century. In 1764 the Empress Catherine II acquired Johann Ernest Gotzkowski's collection of paintings from the Dutch and Flemish Schools, the museum's first collection. Later the great collections of Count Heirich von Bruhl, Count Badoin and Baron Pierre Crozat were acquired. The museum was called the Hermitage because only the Russian Court had access to its exhibits. The section on Ancient Art has a collection of 107,000 cultural and artistic monuments from Ancient Greece and Rome. These works date from the 5th to 3rd century B.C. and were discovered during archaeological excavations that took place in the 19th and 20th centuries on the northern coast of the Black Sea. This was the site of the ancient cities of Panticapea, Ninfea, Teodosia and Quersoneso. During the Soviet regime the section on Ancient Art was reorganised and the collection increased considerably. The museum also owns a large collection of Greek vases and statues. One of the highlights of the Hermitage is the section on western art. The exhibition rooms dedicated to this field are located on the first floor of all the museum's buildings. The Early Renaissance is not well represented and there is an notable absence of paintings by great artists such as Giotto, Donatello and Masaccio. However, the museum does own original works by Leonardo da Vinci. It also has paintings by Titian, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, Tiepolo and [Canaletto#PINTOR#1245]. The Hermitage's collection of Spanish art is one of the best in the world. Flemish and Dutch artists played an important role in the development of painting in the 17th century and the museum has interesting works by Rubens, [Van Dyck#PINTOR#3568], Jordaens and Snyders. Some of Van Dyck's early works, such as Saint Peter Apostle, are on display, where the artist's interest in painting faces is evident. The Hermitage has one of the best collections of paintings by Rubens in the world with 42 of his paintings. Rembrandt is also well represented with works from all his periods. The museum has an impressive collection of French art. Finally, the space dedicated to English art is relatively small with mainly landscapes and portraits from the 18th century.