History Of The Hermitage

The State Hermitage Museum is located in St Petersburg, Russia and is the second largest art museum in the world.

The Hermitage museum was founded in 1764 when the empress Catherine the Great met Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, a merchant from Berlin and acquired a large and impressive collection of art. Catherine then decided to open the doors to the public to view this collection in 1852.

The Hermitage building served as a home an workplace for over 1000 people through the years but as the collection grew there wasn’t enough room to house all of the pieces so an extension was started in 1771 and since then The Hermitage has undergone several extension making it what it is today.

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The Collections

The Hermitage Museum houses over 3 million works of art and ancient artefacts spread over 6 buildings these are:

  • The Winter Palace
  • The Great Hermitage
  • The Small Hermitage
  • The New Hermitage
  • The Hermitage Theatre
  • Reserve House of the Winter Palace

Within these buildings there are several rooms housing different artwork so you will need a full day to navigate around and see all that there is to offer.  Every piece of artwork that is on display is showcased in such a beautiful way, being encase in some of the most beautiful frames in keeping with the era of the artwork.  There will be modern frames, some beautiful antique frames and some exceptional examples of period gilded and gold leaf frames all bringing the art within this building to life.

You will find some of the following art on display:

  • Prehistoric Art
  • Classic Antiques
  • Jewellery and Decorative Art
  • Italian Renaissance Art
  • Spanish and Italian Fine Art
  • Egyptian Antiques
  • Russian Art
  • British, German, Swiss and French Fine Art
  • Dutch Golden Age and Flemish Baroque
  • French Neoclassical, Impressionist and Post Impressionist Art
  • Modern, German Romantic and other 19th – 20th Century Art
Image credit: https://meridianrussia.com/war-gallery-of-1812-in-the-hermitage-museum-in-st-petersburg/
Image credit: https://meridianrussia.com/war-gallery-of-1812-in-the-hermitage-museum-in-st-petersburg/