What places do tourists most often visit when they come to St. Petersburg? Hermitage, Kunstkamera and the cruiser Aurora.
What is unique about the Hermitage?
This is the world's largest art and cultural-historical museum. It is as famous and popular as the Louvre, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The State Hermitage Museum holds 3 million exhibits, of which only 15 thousand are paintings. It is estimated that if you devote only 1 minute to each museum exhibit, then it will take ... 8 years to view all the collections of the Hermitage And this is considering only permanent exhibitions, but not temporary exhibitions. The Hermitage organizes a dozen of these every month. And the length of all corridors is 20 km. But the main highlight of this museum is not in scale and in the number of stored historical objects, but in the fact that there are originals of many masterpieces of world painting and other forms of art.
Where is?
The location of the museum is on Palace Embankment. The State Hermitage is a complex of five buildings (the Winter Palace, the New Hermitage, the Grand Hermitage, the Small Hermitage and the Hermitage Theater). The main entrance is located at: Palace Square, 2.
Schedule
The State Hermitage is ready to receive visitors from Tuesday to Sunday, starting at 10.30. The end of the work is 18.00, but on Wednesday - 21.00. Monday is the day off. But attention: ticket offices stop selling tickets an hour before closing. It is better to plan a trip to the Hermitage for hours before lunch and on weekdays - fewer people. But on weekends, sometimes you need to stand in line for about an hour.
Ticket price
Tickets to the Hermitage are relatively inexpensive. For Russian citizens, the price will be 100 rubles, for pensioners, students and children - for free. Foreigners will have to pay 350 r. But every first Thursday of the month is a free day for everyone.
History of creation
In 1764, Catherine II acquired 225 paintings from the collection of the German merchant Johann Gotzkowski. This selection was intended for King of Prussia Frederick II, but due to financial problems, he could not redeem it. The enterprising merchant proposed to do this to the Russian Empress, and she agreed without hesitation in order to flaunt the German monarch. Since Gotskovsky did not have deep knowledge in the field of art, the collection included paintings rather mediocre (in comparison with those that came later). Basically it was the work of the hands of Dutch and Flemish masters, as well as some works of Italian artists of the XVII century. But among them should be noted the works of Hals and the Wall.
This year (1764th) is considered the foundation year of the Hermitage, although the museum in the modern concept of the word has not yet existed. Five years later, the following acquisition took place: 600 paintings from the private collection of Count von Bruhl. There were valuable exhibits: "Portrait of an old man in red" by Rembrandt, "Perseus and Andromeda" by Rubens and others.
Another 400 paintings purchased from the French collector Pierre Crozet. Thus, the “Holy Family” by Raphael, “Judith” by Giorgione, “Danae” by Titian, “Portrait of Chamberlain Infanta Isabella” Rubens, “Self Portrait” by Van Dyck turned out to be in St. Petersburg.
For Catherine, the acquisition of the masterpieces of world painting was primarily a political gesture to show that the Russian Empire is a developed and not poor country that can afford such a luxury. In 1774, the empress owned 2080 paintings, but there was no general access to them. Catherine’s famous phrase that only she and the mouse admires this belongs to this period. Although later access to the gallery was open, but with special permissions.
Later, the Hermitage received valuables taken out of the mansions of the nobility and other royal palaces. The museum was replenished with private collections of the Yusupovs, Stroganovs, Sheremetyevs. Other institutions also donated their exhibits to the Hermitage.
Painting collection
Thanks to the exhibits of the Hermitage, you can trace the history of world painting and watch how the art of England, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, France and other countries developed. For example, the collection contains 7 thousand paintings by European artists only, starting from the Middle Ages and ending with the last century. In addition to permanent exhibitions, there are also temporary exhibitions. The Hermitage carefully monitors the preservation of the valuable cultural heritage of the past, which is why some samples are open to wide access for only a few weeks a year in order to preserve them.
The halls of Western European art are decorated according to the chronological and geographical principle, that is, in one, the works of painters of a particular country are collected over a specific period of time. For example, the gallery of Italian painting of the XIII-XVIII centuries can boast such masterpieces as the Annunciation by Simone Martini, Madonna Benoit and Madonna Litta by Leonardo da Vinci, and the Holy Family of Raphael.
The exposition of Flemish fine art of the 17th-18th centuries is very rich. The pride of the collection is 32 paintings by Rubens (“Union of Earth and Water”, “Bacchus” and large monumental and decorative cycles), 24 works by his student Van Dyck (“Self-portrait”).
The gallery of Spanish painting of the 15th - early 18th centuries contains paintings by El Greco ("Apostles Peter and Paul"), Velazquez ("Breakfast"), de Goya ("Portrait of Actress Anthony Zarate"). You can observe the development of Gothic and realistic trends, as well as caravagism.
An exceptionally rich collection of paintings (about 1000) by Dutch artists, including early and late Rembrandt.
As wide as in the Hermitage, English painting is represented except in Britain itself. Of great interest are the works of court portrait painters. One of the world famous paintings is "Portrait of a Lady in Blue" by Thomas Gainsborough.
In the exhibition hall of French painting of the XV-XVIII centuries, the most important place is occupied by the works of the classicist Nicolas Poussin. A collection of works of the second half of the XIX - XX centuries is rightfully considered one of the best in the world. There is the famous impressionist Monet ("Lady in the Garden", "Waterloo Bridge"), and Renoir ("Girl with a Fan"), and Degas ("Place de la Concorde"). The pride of this collection is 38 originals from Matisse and 31 from Picasso.
In the hall of German art, the masters of the Berlin and Munich schools stand out especially. The battle canvases dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812 and the work of Frederick in the style of romanticism also attract attention.
Recently, the State Hermitage acquired Malevich's Black Square. This is one of the most famous works of Russian art of the last century.
What is the conclusion? You can talk for a long time about architectural monuments and sculptures of the Hermitage. But reading about the masterpieces of painting is much less exciting than enjoying the beautiful firsthand. Therefore, you need to go without hesitation and buy tickets to the Hermitage for the whole family. It will be informative.