One of the most famous museums in the world. Kilometer lines are built in it, regardless of the weather on the street. It has many branches, its own theater, orchestra and unusual cats.
Read this article and you will know the brief history of the Hermitage. You will get acquainted with some exhibits and the luxurious atmosphere of the halls. We will talk about the different buildings included in the museum complex.
The information will be interesting to all lovers of national culture and connoisseurs of masterpieces of world art.
Hermitage in the Russian Empire
Before you begin the description of the Hermitage, it is worth briefly familiarizing yourself with its history. The huge collection today, which is located in many halls of different buildings, once began with a personal collection of paintings by Catherine the Great.
In 1764, she received it on account of the debt of Johann Gotzkowski to Russian Prince Vladimir Dolgoruky. The collection included more than three hundred paintings delivered from Berlin. The total cost of the paintings ranges from one hundred eighty thousand German thalers of the eighteenth century.
Thus, the history of the Hermitage began with the works of Baburen, van Dyck, Balen, Rembrandt, Rubens, Jordaens and other Dutch and Flemish painters. From the original list of paintings today, ninety-six masterpieces remain intact. We will talk about where the rest disappeared in other parts of the article.
Initially, premises for the collection were allotted in the halls of the Winter Palace. Later, the building was built, which today is known as the Small Hermitage (photo is located below). But in the process of the museum’s existence, Catherine the Great monitored the increase in the number of exhibits. Gradually, the place began to run out of space, and over the course of sixteen years the Grand (or Old) Hermitage was built by the architect Felten.
Over the eighteenth century, the collection has replenished with many thousands of works of art. The collections of the Saxon minister, Count Heinrich von Bruhl, the collections of the French baron Pierre Croz, as well as a number of masterpieces from the collection of British Prime Minister Robert Walpole were acquired.
In the nineteenth century, the work of Empress Catherine the Great was continued by Alexander I and Nicholas I. They no longer just bought entire collections from different noble Europeans, but supplemented collections of eras, styles and individual artists. So were acquired “Lute player” Caravaggio and “Adoration of the Magi” Botticelli.
Nicholas I played a large role in popularizing the Hermitage. In 1852, he opened the exposition for general viewing. Until that time, only selected persons from the upper strata of society could admire masterpieces. After the collection was opened to the public in the New Hermitage, attendance reached fifty thousand people in the first year.
A significant figure in the art history of the second half of the nineteenth century was Andrei Somov, who was a museum overseer for twenty-two years. He compiled several catalogs of works of Italian and Spanish art, which were exhibited in the halls of the Hermitage.
The situation changed dramatically after the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne and the coming to power of the Bolsheviks.
History of the Hermitage after 1917
In the twenties of the twentieth century, the history of the Hermitage undergoes some changes. The collection is replenished from many collections of the imperial nobility. For example, most of the interior items, the treasures of the Great Mughals, were transferred from the halls of the Winter Palace.
Parts of the disbanded collections from the Museum of New Western Art (works of European impressionists and paintings by Schukin, Morozov) flowed into the collection. But the Hermitage gallery suffered losses. So, the Diamond Room of the Winter Palace moved to the Moscow Kremlin, and the main works of seventeenth-century artists were in the Museum of Fine Arts.
The turning point was the sale of masterpieces for five years (from 1929 to 1934). This was an unexpected blow to the collection. During this time, the Hermitage lost over forty paintings (a photo of one of them is located below). For example, the Annunciation by Jan van Eyck is today in the Washington Museum.
The next test was the Great Patriotic War. An amazing fact, but not a single copy of the two million exhibits evacuated to the Urals was lost. After returning, only a few of them needed restoration.
In 1945, the Hermitage significantly replenished the collection with Berlin trophies. The Pergamon Altar and some of the things from Egypt were transported. But in 1958, the government of the Soviet Union returned them to the German Democratic Republic.
After the perestroika and the fall of the Soviet state, the Hermitage was one of the first to announce the works stored in its vaults, which for the whole world were considered lost.
In addition, with the help of a specially created fund, gaps in the exhibits of the twentieth century are gradually filled. So, the works of Soutine, Rouault, Utrillo and other artists were acquired.
The Hermitage 20 \ 21 project appears, during which purchases and display of works by contemporary authors are planned.
In 2006 there was a small embarrassment with the loss of two hundred small exhibits (jewelry, silverware, icons, etc.). But the investigation quickly identified the culprits of the thefts, and most things were able to return.
Halls of the Great Hermitage
For a beginner, the halls of the Hermitage are like the endless labyrinth of the Knossos Palace in Crete. Three buildings are combined here, in which there are twenty-eight sections and about four hundred rooms.
So, the State Hermitage Museum, the history of which was examined earlier, was opened for public viewing by Emperor Nicholas I. Since that time, the museum’s collections have expanded significantly.
Today, here you can see the art of Central Asia, ancient states, Ancient Egypt and the East, monuments of various cultures on the territory of Ancient Siberia. Also in two galleries presents a rich collection of jewelry.
On the second floor, visitors will enjoy not only a chic collection of weapons, but also canvases by Western European masters. There are works by Flanders, Dutch, Italian, English, Germanic, Spanish and French artists.
There is also a modern gallery. The Hermitage gave her part of the premises on the third floor. In these rooms, sightseers will be able to see not only the paintings of West European authors of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Also presented here are objects of art and culture of the Byzantine Empire, the countries of Central Asia and the Far East.
Building
In St. Petersburg, the Hermitage buildings constitute an integral architectural composition. It includes five main facilities, two service rooms and four separate rooms.
The ensemble is based on buildings on the Palace Square of the northern capital. Here are the Winter Palace, the Small, the Big and the New Hermitage, as well as the Hermitage Theater.
Since Soviet times, the Winter Palace was given to the museum to host the exhibition. This house was once the most important imperial building in the Russian state. It was built in the mid-eighteenth century by the famous architect Rastrelli. Until the abdication of Nicholas II, it was the main winter residence of the ruling Romanov dynasty.
But the main halls of the Hermitage are not located here. Most of the items are exhibited in three special buildings - the Big, Small and New Hermitage.
The first was built by Felten at the end of the eighteenth century. It is located on the waterfront and was intended to show art collections.
The Small Hermitage consists of the Hanging Garden, as well as two pavilions - the North and the South. It was erected a little earlier than the Bolshoi and is the link between the classical Hermitage and the Baroque Winter Palace.
The new Hermitage was built in ungreek. It was created specifically for placement in it an art collection "for public inspection."
The Hermitage buildings also include a cinder block garage and a spare house for the Winter Palace. These buildings are considered auxiliary and service.
Outside the ensemble of the Palace Square , the museum has at its disposal the “Old Village” fund depository, the East wing of the General Staff Building, the Menshikov Palace and the Museum of the Porcelain Factory.
Theater
The history and architecture of the buildings of the Hermitage often borrow various ideas from Western European masters. The theater was no exception.
It was designed and built by the Italian Giacomo Quarenghi at the end of the eighteenth century . The interior and interior composition were created under the influence of the Olimpico Theater in Vicenza. Thus, in St. Petersburg, part of the ideas of Andrea Palladio was repeated.
The “history of the Hermitage” is still noticeable in the lobby. Visitors will be able to see first-hand rafters and wooden floors of the late eighteenth century.
The theater building itself was built on the site of the first Winter Palace since the time of Emperor Peter Alekseevich. From the old house only the foundation was preserved.
It is noteworthy that along the seafront there is the Hermitage Bridge, which connects the two Admiralty Islands and leads from the theater to the Old Hermitage.
New Hermitage
The history and architecture of the Hermitage fully reflect the haste with which Empress Catherine the Great took up the realization of the idea under the impression of Western European fashion. At the end of the eighteenth century, it became popular among the noble class to collect works of art.
The empress bought the first batch of paintings and ordered the building to be built, which today is known as the Small Hermitage. But even before the completion of the work, it became clear that the room is too small and unable to accommodate all the new items. Therefore, seven years later, they began to build the Great Hermitage.
Half a century later, the building began to deteriorate, and the fire that happened in 1837 completely made the start of new construction compelled. Thus, from Munich, Nicholas I brings the architect Klenze, who began to design the New Hermitage. St. Petersburg became for him the realization of failed ideas.
The room reflects the plans of the architect who did not find a response in Athens. In general, the construction was to partially resemble the Pinakothek, Glyptothek, Pantekhnion and the royal residence in Greece.
In 1852, the opening of new halls. The exhibits for them were personally selected by the emperor.
Exhibits
Next, we will examine the exhibits of the Hermitage. The halls of this museum showcase the development of art from the era of the primitive communal system to the present day. Particularly interesting collections of material from archaeological collections.
These include the Paleolithic Venus from Kostenok, Scythian gold, items from the burial in the Pazyryk barrow, plates with petroglyphs and other masterpieces of the era of the Great Steppe cultures.
Separately, it is worth touching the exhibits of ancient halls. Over one hundred thousand items are represented here. You can see more than fifteen thousand painted vases, about ten thousand of the most valuable antique gems, as well as one hundred and twenty Roman portraits.
The ancient Greek exhibits of the Hermitage are complemented by a stunning collection of terracotta figurines from the city of Tanagra in Boeotia.
The numismatic collection is more than one million coins. Antique and Eastern, Russian and Western European samples are presented here. In addition, it contains about seventy-five thousand commemorative medals, fifty thousand badges, orders, seals and other items.
However, the most famous, of course, is a selection of paintings by artists who belong to different periods and styles.
West European authors from the thirteenth to the twentieth century are represented here. If we consider them separately by country, we can distinguish several eras.
Italian masters from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries: Titian and Giorgione, da Vinci and Rafael, Caravaggio, Tiepolo and others. Dutch painting is expressed in canvases by Robert Kampen, van Leiden, van der Weyden, etc. There are also Flemings Rubens and Sneijders, Jordaens and van Dyck.
The Spanish collection is the largest in the world, with the exception of museums in Spain. Here you can enjoy the works of El Greco, de Ribera, Diego Velazquez, Morales and others.
The paintings of Kneller, Dobson, Reynolds, Lawrence, etc. are exhibited from the British. From the French, Jelle, Minyard, Delacroix, Renoir, Monet, Degas and others.
For all its diversity, the collection has many gaps. For example, surrealists and some other areas are practically not represented in the Hermitage.
Orchestra
But in St. Petersburg, not only the breathtaking collection of the Hermitage is famous. The famous orchestra is also popular.
This unexpected Russian-Lithuanian project was created at the turn of the eras. In 1989, when glasnost and perestroika raised the Iron Curtain and the Soviet Union collapsed, Saulius Sondeckis created an orchestra called the St. Petersburg Camerata.
The group was based on students from the city conservatory, from whom this Lithuanian taught.
The following year, the director of the Hermitage, Boris Piotrovsky, invites them to play under the patronage of this institution. Subsequently, for some time, Camerata signs a contract with the record company Sony Classical.
And in 1994, after a series of negotiations, the group returned to the patronage of the museum and received the final name “The State Hermitage Orchestra”.
In 1997, the Hermitage Academy of Music was created, the basis of which is this collective. Today the orchestra gives concerts in the Hermitage Theater and other historical halls.
And in 2009, his permanent leader received the Order of Honor as an outstanding cultural figure and for strengthening relations between the two states.
Famous Hermitage Cats
Hermitage cats are an inimitable urban legend and simply an amazing fact. Today, about seventy animals live in the museum. They have all the documents, including veterinary cards and passports. In addition, cats are officially registered as "highly qualified specialists in cleaning the museum's basements from rats."
Thus, the Hermitage collection is completely safe from rodent invasion. Only a few times was it that the rats bred the palace.
The first cat in the Winter Palace was brought by Tsar Peter the Great from a trip to Western Europe. After that, during a trip to Kazan, Elizaveta Petrovna noticed the absence of rodents in the city due to the large number of rat-catchers. By a special decree, the largest individuals were relocated to St. Petersburg.
Subsequently, Catherine the Great divides the animals into indoor and outdoor. The first were exclusively Russian blue cats.
The second time rats bred was during the siege of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War. But after its completion, two cat cars were brought into the city, of which the best were identified in the museum.
Today all cats of the Hermitage are sterilized. They have their own personal sleeping places and bowls. Museum workers affectionately call them “hermics”. And on the territory of the attraction there are signs urging you to be careful. They are placed as a necessary measure, since many animals die under cars during various repairs.
Branches
You are mistaken if you think that there is only one Hermitage. St. Petersburg has several branches of this museum around the world.
The first attempts to create branches were at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Halls opened in London and Las Vegas, but seven years later they were closed.
More successful was the collaboration with Italy. The first exhibition appeared here in 2006 in the castle of d'Este. This building is considered the hallmark of the city of Ferrara. Options with Verona and Mantua are also being considered.
But the most famous foreign department is the Hermitage in Amstel, in the city of Amsterdam. It was opened in 2004, and later the whole street and Amstelhof building were reconstructed to create a completed composition.
In the Russian Federation, there are branches in Kazan and Vyborg; it is planned in Omsk in 2016.
Thus, in this article we met with you the amazing museum of the Russian Federation. The Hermitage is not just a place where masterpieces are exhibited, but a piece of culture with its history and features.
Good luck, dear readers. Vivid impressions and colorful travels to you!