There are too many exhibits in the Hermitage to keep track of them all. Interesting facts about the Hermitage that few people know

I look at the museum stands...
How time plays with memory!
Only legends live forever
But truths all die.

A. Schweik

In the center of St. Petersburg, on the embankment of the Neva River, opposite the Peter and Paul Fortress, the largest museum in Russia is located - the Hermitage. Its collections contain about three million exhibits - works of painting, sculpture, graphics, objects of applied art, coins, orders and badges, samples of weapons, archaeological sites and other valuables created by many peoples of the world from ancient times to the present day.

In terms of the scale and significance of the collections, only British museum in London and the Louvre in Paris. The materials concentrated in the Hermitage are distinguished by their great diversity.

"In the same row cultural values here are paintings by brilliant painters and a unique fragment of ancient fabric, monumental sculpture and filigree jewelry, Neolithic rock paintings and graphic sheets, ancient and modern monuments.”

December 7, 2014 to the museum State Hermitage Museum turned 250 years old. Founded by Russian Empress Catherine II as private collection items European art, today it is rightfully one of the largest art museums in the world.

The Hermitage is amazing world, full of miracles. The museum's collections have always attracted, and continue to attract, thousands of people of different ages and professions, countries and peoples, generations and worldviews. And everyone can find there what their soul needs. A truly rare unity: collections are so high level, the beauty of the architectural frame, the significance of historical associations - all this attracts people, constituting a bright, unique feature of today's Hermitage.

The museum began with a collection of paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists, acquired by Catherine II in 1764 from the Berlin merchant I. Gotzkowsky. At first the paintings were placed in quiet apartments Winter Palace, called “Hermitage” (translated from French as “place of solitude”).

Unknown Italian (?) artist, based on a drawing by M. I. Makhaev. View of the Winter Palace. 1750s

Then the collection began to be actively replenished, including through gifts to Russian autocrats from foreign rulers. At the same time, each Russian emperor brought something of his own to the Hermitage collection. Thus, Nicholas I, passionate about military affairs, left behind 600 paintings depicting battle scenes. During his reign, in 1826, the famous Military Gallery of 1812 was created.

The museum was first opened to the public in 1852, when the New Hermitage, one of five interconnected buildings on Palace Embankment, built according to the design of the Bavarian architect Leo von Klenze (1784-1864).

The main entrance from Palace Square is through the arches of the Winter Palace. Evening view

By that time, the Hermitage already had the richest collections of monuments of ancient Eastern, ancient Egyptian, ancient and medieval cultures, Western and of Eastern Europe, Asia, Russian culture of the 8th-19th centuries. TO early XIX For centuries, the museum has already stored thousands of paintings.

The fate of the Hermitage is inseparable from the history of Russia. In the 20th century, the Hermitage faced many trials. However, his priceless collections suffered not so much during the years of revolutions and wars, but from the “sale” of exhibits abroad during Soviet times. The museum staff did their best to prevent this, for which many of them were repressed.

The modern State Hermitage occupies six majestic buildings located along the Neva embankment in the very center of St. Petersburg. The “core” of the Hermitage is the Winter Palace, built according to the design of the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1762.

The museum collection of the State Hermitage includes more than three million exhibits. Among the pearls of his collection is “Diptych” by Robert Campin, “ Madonna Benoit"Leonardo da Vinci, "Judith" Giorgione, " Female portrait"Correggio, "Danae" and "St. Sebastian by Titian, The Lute Player by Caravaggio, The Return prodigal son"Rembrandt, "Lady in Blue" by Gainsborough.

The State Hermitage has been headed by the outstanding art critic, Professor Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky for 22 years. Under his leadership, the Hermitage developed a new development concept. The museum actively uses digital technologies to attract a young audience.

Branches of the Hermitage are opening in Russia and abroad. The museum is already represented in Amsterdam (Netherlands), in Russia - in Kazan and Vyborg, where exhibitions and temporary exhibitions are regularly held. Branches are being prepared for opening in Omsk, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok and Barcelona (Spain).

Bartolini-Fiducia in Dio

Nymph with a Scorpion
Thus, skillfully combining tradition and modernity in its work, the State Hermitage has invariably been a huge success among art fans of all ages and nationalities. And the upcoming anniversary will further emphasize the leading status of the Hermitage in the Russian museum community.

For two and a half centuries, the State Hermitage Museum has collected one of the largest collections of works of art and monuments of world culture, from the Stone Age to the present century. Today, with the help of modern technologies, the museum creates its own digital self-portrait, which can be seen all over the world.

The founding date of the Hermitage is considered to be 1764, when Empress Catherine II acquired large collection Western European painting.

Hermitage collections:

— Primitive culture- the collection of monuments of ancient and early medieval cultures numbers almost 2 million items and is one of the first-class and largest in Russia. It is composed of archaeological sites discovered on the territory of Russia from the 18th century to the present day, dating from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age, from the period of human formation to early state formations.

Mazzuoli-Death of Adonis

— Culture and art of the ancient world - the collection of ancient antiquities in the Hermitage includes over 106,000 monuments representing the culture and art of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, ancient colonies of the Northern Black Sea region. The earliest of them date back to the 3rd millennium BC, the latest date back to the 4th century. AD Far beyond the borders of Russia, the richest collection of Greek and Italian painted vases is known, which includes 15,000 copies, monuments of the culture of Etruria. The first-class collection of antique gems (carved stones) - intaglios and cameos - includes about 10,000 monuments and has no equal in the world.

— Western European art - among the artistic treasures of the Hermitage, the collection especially stands out Western European art, which has about 600,000 exhibits and is one of the best in the world. Permanent exhibitions occupy 120 halls of the museum and are located in 4 buildings. The collection reflects all stages of the development of Western European art from the Middle Ages to the present day. The collection contains works by outstanding artists from England, Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy, Flanders, France and other Western European countries. Along with paintings and sculptures, it houses a variety of works of applied art, drawings and engravings. The latter, according to international rules, are exhibited only at temporary exhibitions.

— Arsenal - the collection of the Hermitage Arsenal contains more than 15 thousand items of Russian, Western European and Eastern weapons and gives a comprehensive picture of the development of weapons art from the early Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century. In terms of the number and breadth of the selection of exhibits, it is the largest in Russia and one of the best in the world.

— Culture and art of the East - about 180 thousand exhibits, including works of painting, sculpture, applied art, including jewelry, objects of worship and everyday life of ancient peoples, samples of writing - give a vivid idea of ​​the rich cultural heritage of the East since the emergence of ancient civilizations to the present day. Exhibitions occupying more than 50 halls introduce collections of cultural and artistic monuments Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, Caucasus, Byzantium, Middle and Far East, India.

— Russian culture - the collection of the Russian Department of the Hermitage, numbering over 300 thousand exhibits, reflects thousand-year history Russia. Spiritual world and human lifestyle Ancient Rus' recreate icons and works artistic craft. The era of grandiose transformations appears before us in the monuments of the time of Peter the Great.

— Numismatics - in terms of the number of storage units, the funds of the numismatics department make up more than a third of the museum’s materials. The numismatic collection of the Hermitage has long earned the reputation of being one of the largest in our country.

The main part of the numismatic collection consists of coins: antique (about 120,000), oriental (over 220,000), Russian (about 300,000) and western (about 360,000). The numismatic collection also includes commemorative medals (about 75,000), orders, decorations and medals, badges (about 50,000) and various sphragistic materials (seals, impressions).

— Jewelery Gallery - on permanent exhibition “ Golden Pantry. (Eurasia, Ancient Black Sea Region, East)" presents about one and a half thousand gold items (from the 7th century BC to the 19th century) from the most valuable collection of the museum, which received the name of the Treasure Gallery under Catherine the Great.

— Palace of Peter I - permanent exhibition The Winter Palace of Peter I opened in the Hermitage in 1992. It introduces you to a unique architectural and memorial monument of the first quarter of the 18th century.

silver sarcophagus for the relics of Alexander Nevsky

— Menshikov Palace - main exhibition: “Culture of Russia in the first third of the 18th century.” The palace of Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, the first governor of St. Petersburg, was founded on Vasilyevsky Island in 1710.

— Main Headquarters- in 1993, the eastern wing of the General Staff building, which housed some of the museum’s exhibitions, was transferred to the State Hermitage Museum.

— Halls of the Hermitage in Somerset House (London, UK) - constantly changing exhibitions, for example, “ French drawing and painting from the Hermitage collection: from Poussin to Picasso": 75 drawings and 8 paintings - masterpieces of French masters of the 16th-20th centuries. from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum.

The State Hermitage Museum not only preserves and studies the cultural heritage of mankind, but also develops the diverse areas of its artistic creativity.

The Hermitage is not just a museum, it is history itself, the beauty and greatness of Art itself on its entire historical and universal scale. “A museum is not a mechanical sum of inventory numbers, it is something like epic poem, to which many generations have had a hand.”

Somov A.I.,—. Imperial Hermitage // encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
Varshavsky S., Yuliy Isaakovich |.

The Hermitage, 1764—1939: Essays on the history of the State Hermitage / Ed. acad. I. A. Orbeli; Rep. ed. P.Y. Kann; Artist A. A. Ushin. - L.: State. Publishing house "Iskusstvo", 1939. - 252 p.

The largest and most significant art, cultural and historical museum in Russia and the world, the State Hermitage Museum, celebrates today its 165th anniversary since it was opened to the public.

The history of the museum began in 1764 with a collection of works of art that was acquired by Empress Catherine II. According to various sources, these are 317 or 225 valuable paintings. Among them were paintings mainly by the Dutch-Flemish school of the first half XVII century. Today at least 96 of them survive in the Hermitage.

This meeting was housed in a special palace outbuilding - the Small Hermitage (from the French ermitage - a place of solitude, cell, hermitage, retreat). In 1852, the Imperial Hermitage was formed and opened to the public.

In 1769, in Dresden, the Hermitage acquired a rich collection of the Saxon minister Count Brühl, numbering about 600 paintings, including Titian’s landscape “Flight into Egypt”, views of Dresden and Pirna by Bellotto, etc.

Large and important additions to the collection took place in 1772 and 1779. During this period, it became clear that there was not enough space and the architect Felten was building the building of the Great Hermitage. The posthumous inventory of Catherine's property in 1796 lists 3,996 paintings.

During the reign of Alexander I and Nicholas I, not only collections were purchased, but also individual works by artists whose works were not in the Hermitage. Nicholas I realized the idea of ​​​​transforming the Hermitage into a public museum on February 17, 1852.

Before mid-19th centuries, only a select few could visit the Hermitage. Thus, A.S. Pushkin was able to obtain a pass only thanks to the recommendation of V. Zhukovsky, who served as a mentor to the emperor’s son. At that time the museum had the richest collections of monuments of ancient Eastern, ancient Egyptian, ancient and medieval cultures, art of Western and Eastern Europe, archaeological and artistic monuments Asia, Russian culture of the 8th-19th centuries.

By 1880, museum attendance reached 50,000 people a year.

In the 19th century, the Hermitage began to systematically receive works by Russian painters. In 1895, some of the works of Russian artists were transferred to the Russian Museum. The museum receives materials from archaeological excavations, which have significantly enriched its department. By the beginning of the 20th century, the museum already stored thousands of paintings, and then new works of art appeared in its collection. Thus, the Hermitage became the center of Russian art history and a new era in the life of the museum began.

After the fall of imperial power, the Hermitage underwent significant transformations. The museum was significantly enriched by nationalized private collections and the collection of the Academy of Arts. From the main collection of the Winter Palace, the museum received many interior items, as well as Mughal treasures presented by Nadir Shah.

As a result of the closure of the Museum of the New Western art in 1948 and another redistribution cultural heritage Between the museums of Leningrad and Moscow, parts of the Moscow collections of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov joined the Hermitage. Now the chronological scope of the collection has expanded significantly thanks to the works of the Impressionists, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso and other artists of new movements.

Irreversible damage to the collection was caused by sales in 1929-34, as a result of which 48 masterpieces left Russia forever. The Hermitage lost the only work by Van Eyck, the best works of Raphael, Botticelli, Hals and a number of other old masters.

During the Great Patriotic War the bulk of the Hermitage collection (more than two million items) was evacuated to the Urals. The basements of the Hermitage buildings turned into bomb shelters, and it did not function as a museum. However, the Hermitage staff continued to conduct scientific work and even organize lectures on art history. Not a single exhibit was lost during the war, and only a small part of them needed to be restored.

At the beginning of 1957, the third floor of the Winter Palace opened to visitors, where works from the Museum of New Western Art were exhibited.

Immediately after the fall " iron curtain» The Hermitage was the first Russian museums announced that his storerooms contain “trophy” works of impressionists and neo-impressionists, which were considered lost since the end of the war.

In post-Soviet times, the Hermitage began to make efforts to fill gaps in its collection of 20th-century art. The International Foundation for Friends of the Hermitage was organized. In 2002, the exhibition was replenished with one of the versions of Malevich’s “Black Square”. In 2006, the Hermitage 20/21 Project was launched, aimed at displaying and purchasing contemporary art.

Interesting Facts

Cats work in the Hermitage. In the 18th century, when rats began to damage the walls of the Winter Palace, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna issued a “Decree on the expulsion of cats to the court,” according to which selected hunters were to be sent to her. And Catherine II granted cats an official status: “guards of art galleries.”

The museum is guarded by about 70 cats: they are called “freelance employees”, each is issued their own passport, and they are allowed to move around the entire territory of the museum, except for the halls. American Mary Ann Allyn, who once visited the Hermitage with her granddaughter, even published a children's book dedicated to Hermitage cats— part of the proceeds from book sales in the United States was spent on animal care.

There was a garage in the Hermitage. Emperor Nicholas II was very fond of cars: he bought his first car in 1905, and by 1911 there were already about 50 different brands in the imperial car fleet. It had a car wash, a gas station and its own steam heating system to prevent cars from being damaged by corrosion. In 1917, during the looting of the Hermitage, the entire vehicle fleet of Nicholas II disappeared.

It will take 11 years to explore the Hermitage. The Hermitage today is one of the most popular museums in the world and the largest in Russia. It contains more than three million exhibits, which are presented in five huge buildings. In order to even pass by all the works of art, you need to cover 24 kilometers. And if you spend about a minute with each person, it will take 11 years to go through all the halls: and this is provided that the visitor will visit the museum every day for eight, or even ten hours.

There are 293 days left before the official celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage, but you can start celebrating the anniversary of the country’s largest museum and the main cultural symbol of St. Petersburg today - on the unofficial birthday of the museum. It was on February 17, 1852 (162 years ago) that the Hermitage became a real “public museum” - on this day its doors opened for the first time to everyone. Before that, for 88 years it remained a private collection royal family, and all the paintings and sculptures were securely hidden from prying eyes.

The best way to congratulate your favorite museum on significant date- stroll through its halls. For the anniversary of the Hermitage, the editors of the site have collected the most interesting exhibits and divided them into three programs for independent excursions: for an hour, for three hours and for the whole day.

Express: Hermitage in an hour

It is impossible to walk around all the halls of the modern Hermitage in an hour, even if you run without looking around and stopping at paintings and sculptures. However, sometimes museum visitors set themselves such a task - most often these are guests of the Northern capital, who in a couple of days need to go to Peterhof, visit the theater, and take a boat ride along the Neva.

Having limited yourself to one hour, you will have to deny yourself the pleasure of a leisurely walk. To make it easier to navigate the corridors and halls, you can download the official museum application to your smartphone - this way you can move freely without a tour group.

If you have very little time, it is best to select a few of the most striking exhibits and plot the optimal route using one of the information kiosks - the machine itself will choose the shortest path between the selected points and give you a printed map with text navigation. Here are the museum's most popular exhibits.

"Madonna Litta"

"Madonna Litta" is a painting that tourists from all over the world come to see. Photo: www.russianlook.com

One of two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the Hermitage. Exhibited in the Da Vinci Hall on the second floor. "Madonna and Child (Madonna Litta)" was painted in 1490-1491 in Milan. One of the masterpieces of the Renaissance. The painting entered the Hermitage in 1865 from the collection of Duke Antonio Litta in Milan. Preparatory drawing to the Hermitage painting is kept in the Louvre.

"Madonna Benoit"

The "Benois Madonna" is also known as the "Madonna of the Flower". Photo: www.russianlook.com

Leonardo's second masterpiece in the Hermitage collection. The painting “Madonna with a Flower” came into the collection from the Benois family, which explains its common name. Painted in 1478, it was one of the first independent works of the young da Vinci. In one of the neighboring rooms you can admire the famous “Danae” by Titian.

"Return of the Prodigal Son"

Rembrandt often used biblical and mythological stories. Photo: www.russianlook.com

The painting is kept in the Rembrandt Hall along with 23 other paintings by the great Dutch master. The canvas dates back to 1668-1669 and tells the story of a gospel parable. The artist used this plot more than once, and painted the Hermitage painting shortly before his death. Also in this room on the second floor of the Winter Palace you can see his other paintings: “Flora” (1634), “Danae” (1636), “The Sacrifice of Abraham” (1635) and “The Descent from the Cross” (1634).

"Bacchus"

“Bacchus” is one of the paintings that gave rise to the expression “Rubensian forms.” Photo: Creative Commons

Next to the Dutch painter are the masters of Flanders, and one of the most famous is Peter Paul Rubens. The Hermitage collection contains 22 paintings and 19 sketches made by the artist. The familiar “Bacchus” dates back to 1638-1640 and entered the museum in 1772 from the collection of Pierre Croz in Paris. Next to “Bacchus” you will see the paintings “The Union of Earth and Water” (1618), “Perseus and Andromeda” (early 1620s) and “Carriers of Stones” (circa 1620).

Three hours and three million

There is another option - choose the most interesting collection and focus on it. As a rule, after the Da Vinci and Rembrandt halls, the most people interested are at the entrance to the Hermitage Jewelry Gallery. True, you can only get there with a tour group.

The Gallery of Jewels was named so during the reign of Catherine the Great. It consists of the Gold and Diamond storerooms.

The Golden Treasury includes about one and a half thousand gold objects from Eurasia, the Ancient Black Sea region and the East, made from the 7th century. BC. to the 19th century AD Here are the most interesting of them:

Shield plaque in the form of a deer figure (circa 600 BC)

Animalistic motifs are characteristic of Scythian art. Photo: creaitve commons / sailko

Belongs to the “Gold of the Scythians” collection. Discovered in the village of Kostroma during excavations of the Kostroma mound. The collection is based on finds from the mounds of the Kuban region, the Dnieper region, and the Crimea. Another pearl of the collection, included in all history textbooks, is a golden comb with images of fighting warriors (late 5th - early 4th centuries BC), found in the Solokha mound in the Dnieper region.

Also in the “Golden Pantry” you can see masterpieces of Hun jewelry art from the time of the Great Migration of Peoples (decorations of clothes and headdresses, horse equipment), luxurious utensils, vessels, and weapons of the East.

The second part of the gallery - “The Diamond Pantry” - is dedicated to the development of jewelry. Here are jewelry from Byzantium, Kievan Rus and medieval Europe, created from the 3rd millennium BC. until the beginning of the 20th century. In particular, objects created by European jewelers in the 16th-17th centuries and 18th-19th centuries, and, finally, the work of St. Petersburg jewelers - objects from the everyday life of the imperial family. The collection of the storeroom contains monuments of church art, diplomatic gifts to the Russian court, and products of the legendary company of Carl Faberge.

Bouquet of flowers (1740), master Jeremiah Pozier. Jasper, agate, tiger's eye, flint, almadine, beryl, turquoise, coral, opal, corundum, aquamarine, topaz, amethyst, diamonds, cut diamonds, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds. Mentioned among the belongings of Catherine II.

The precious bouquet was pinned to the corset. Photo: Creative commons/shakko

A day in Zimny

Spending the whole day in the Hermitage is a fairly common practice among tourists traveling outside of a group and ready to freely manage their time. St. Petersburg residents are less likely to be so generous with their time, but the 250th anniversary of the great museum may be an additional incentive to devote the whole day to your favorite works of art.

You can start from the first floor - they are waiting for you there egyptian gods, sarcophagi and vases, the history of the Ancient World and the mummy of a Scythian leader.

The Egyptian Hall is one of the favorite places on excursions for schoolchildren. Photo: Creative commons/Thomas Ault

Then you can climb the Jordan Stairs to the Field Marshal's Hall and turn into the Romanov Portrait Gallery. Next - the Malachite Hall, the library of Nicholas II and the exhibition “Russian interior of the 19th - early 20th centuries”.

In the south-eastern part of the second floor, after examining the White Hall, you can go upstairs to see the works of Western European artists XIX-XX centuries and separately - about 250 paintings by French impressionists. Here you will find seven paintings by Claude Monet - from “Lady in the Garden” (1867) to “Waterloo Bridge” (1903), two Parisian views by Pissarro, three landscapes by Sisley, and pastels by Degas. Here are also Cezanne and Gauguin, Van Gogh and 37 paintings by Henri Matisse, including “Dance” and “Music” (both 1910). Nearby are 31 paintings by Picasso, from the early “Absinthe Drinker” (1901) to “Woman with a Fan” (1908).

The Hermitage presents 37 paintings by Henri Matisse. Photo: Creative Commons

Afterwards, you can go down to the second floor again and walk through the royal halls for ceremonial receptions - the Armorial Hall, the Gallery of 1812 and the St. George's Hall. Then you can visit the Small Hermitage and at the end of the day, when the flow of visitors from the most popular halls has subsided, go to the legendary Titian, da Vinci, Raphael and Rembrandt. As a farewell, you can go down to the halls of Greek and Roman art.

State Hermitage in St. Petersburg - one of the largest art and cultural-historical museums in the world, the exhibition of which is located in more than 350 halls of five interconnected buildings on the Neva Palace Embankment: Winter Palace (1754-1762, architect F.B. Rastrelli) , Small Hermitage (1764-1767, architect.

J.-B. Wallen-Delamot), the Great Hermitage (1771-1787, architect Yu.M. Felten), the New Hermitage (1839-1852, architect L. von Klenze), the Hermitage Theater (1783-1787, architect G. Quarenghi). The State Hermitage also includes the Menshikov Palace (1710-1720, architect J.-M. Fontana, I.-G. Shedel), the eastern wing of the General Staff building (architect K.I. Rossi) and the Repository. The Hermitage collection includes about 3 million exhibits: 16,783 works of painting, 621,274 graphic works, 12,556 sculptures, 298,775 works of applied art, 734,400 archaeological monuments, 1,125,323 numismatic monuments, 144,185 other exhibits.

The foundation date of the museum is 1764, when Empress Catherine II acquired a collection of 225 paintings from the Berlin merchant I.E. Gotzkowski, originally collected for the Prussian king Frederick II. The Seven Years' War (1756-1763), which brought defeat to Prussia, forced the monarch to abandon this expensive purchase. Therefore, Gotzkovsky, who had financial obligations to the Russian government, offered Catherine II to purchase the paintings to pay off his debt. The Empress agreed, appreciating the opportunity to strike a blow to the pride of the Prussian king. The collection, which included paintings by Flemish, Dutch and Italian artists of the 17th century, laid the foundation for the future Imperial Hermitage.

In 1765 - 1766, at the request of Empress Catherine II, the architect Felten erected a two-story building next to the Winter Palace, and in 1767 - 1769 on the banks of the Neva a pavilion for secluded relaxation with a state hall, several living rooms and a greenhouse was built (architect J.-B. Wallen-Delamot). These two buildings (North and South), connected by a hanging garden located on the second floor level, were called the Small Hermitage (from the French ermitage - a place of solitude). Large private collections were purchased abroad for the palace: G. Bruhl (1769), A. Crozat (1770), R. Walpole (1771), the libraries of Voltaire and Diderot.

In 1771 - 1787, by order of Empress Catherine II, the building of the Greater Hermitage was built next to the Small Hermitage (architect Yu.M. Felten). In 1792, Giacomo Quarenghi added a building to the Great Hermitage that housed Raphael's Loggias - a close-to-original repetition of the famous gallery of the Papal Palace in the Vatican. A transition gallery connected the new building with the Northern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage, and an arch across the Winter Canal connected the theater.

In the 19th century, the Hermitage continued to acquire exhibits and collections: from the Malmaison Palace in Paris, the Barbarigo Palace in Venice, etc. In 1825, an exhibition of Russian artists was opened. In 1852 the Hermitage was opened to visitors. After October revolution already on October 30, 1917, People's Commissar of Education in the Soviet government A.V. Lunacharsky announced the Winter Palace and the Hermitage state museums. During this period, the museum's collection both increased - due to nationalized private collections - and decreased - some masterpieces were sold abroad in the 1920s - 1930s. During the Great Patriotic War, a significant part of the collection was taken to Sverdlovsk and returned to Leningrad in 1945.

Hermitage today

The Hermitage employs 8 scientific departments: (West, East, history of Russian culture, ancient art etc.), archive, science Library, restoration workshops, scientific and technical expertise, etc.).

The Hermitage conducts art exhibitions, organizes scientific conferences, publishes catalogues, albums, guidebooks, organizes archaeological expeditions, etc. In 1999, an electronic guide to the museum's halls was opened. More than 2.5 million people visit the museum every year.

Official name of the museum

• Federal cultural institution "State Hermitage", State Hermitage (Russia, 190000, St. Petersburg, Dvortsovaya embankment., 34)
• Director: Mikhail Borisovich Piotrovsky

Memorable dates of the Hermitage

• On December 7 (November 24, old style), the day of St. Catherine the Great Martyr, the Hermitage celebrates its birthday.
• December 8 - International Day of Friends of the Hermitage

Other Russian emperors continued to add to the collections of Catherine II. But a tragic event occurred in the history of the Hermitage, which almost destroyed all its treasures: on December 17, 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. The flames were already spreading to the Hermitage buildings. The roof and walls of the Small Hermitage were watered, and the passages, windows and doors facing the Winter Palace were hastily covered with bricks.

The fire raged for three days, in the end only a stone skeleton remained of the Winter Palace, but the rest of the palace buildings survived. Just over a year later, the Winter Palace was completely restored and its halls once again sparkled with their former splendor. It was at this time that the construction of the New Hermitage began. It was decided to decorate its facades with statues of poets and scientists from different times, and the mighty Atlases made of gray granite, created by the sculptor A.I. Terebenev, and to this day they hold the balcony on their shoulders.

The new Hermitage was conceived as a museum accessible not only to the court nobility, but also to ordinary visitors. Therefore, it included paintings from other buildings of the Hermitage and works specially selected from the imperial palaces in the countryside, as well as Scythian and Greek cultural monuments found in the south of Russia during archaeological excavations.

The official opening of the public museum, which took place on February 5, 1852, was unusually magnificent. A performance was given at the Hermitage Theater, and a luxurious dinner was held right in the museum halls. Of course, the first guests of the museum were far from ordinary people. And in the future, passes to the Hermitage were issued on the recommendation of influential people by a special office at the Ministry of the Imperial Court. Visitors were required to come to the museum in tailcoats or ceremonial military uniforms.

Free access to the Hermitage was opened only in 1863, under Emperor Alexander II.

By 1914, the museum was already visited by 180 thousand people a year. Well, these days the count goes into the millions. Now lovers of beauty are attracted to the Hermitage not only by the richest collection of Western European art, one of the best in the world, but also by the incomparable state rooms of the Winter Palace, decorated with marble, gilding, and gems - the Bolshoi, Malachite, Field Marshal, Petrovsky, St. George...

The famous Military Gallery, built in 1826, adjoins the St. George Hall.

On its walls are more than 300 portraits of generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812.

Fortunately, during the fire of 1837, these paintings, like other palace valuables, were removed from the fire.

It is impossible to visit the Hermitage in one day. After all, every visitor, in addition to the paintings, certainly tries to see the Raphael Loggia built under Catherine II - a copy of the famous gallery in the Vatican, painted by the great Italian artist Raphael. The Knights' Hall, where samples of medieval weapons and armor are collected, is also particularly famous. The Golden Storeroom of the Hermitage contains unique items from jewelers of the 16th–19th centuries, as well as gold objects found by archaeologists in Scythian burial mounds and at the site of ancient Greek colonies in the Black Sea region.

07.03.2018

The State Hermitage is an art museum located in St. Petersburg.

One of the largest and most visited in the world. His collection began with paintings collected by Catherine the Great, and then increased thousands of times. Now the museum occupies not only 5 buildings on the Neva Palace Embankment, but also several other historical buildings of the city. What facts from the history of creation and modern life Can the Hermitage be considered the most interesting?

1. The word “Hermitage” is of French origin and means “place of solitude”, “cell”. This was the name of the wing of the palace where Catherine II kept her small collection.
2. Also called “hermitages” were small entertainment events organized by the empress in this building, for which it received the name of the Small Hermitage.
3. Part modern museum(the main complex on Palace Embankment) also includes: the Winter Palace, the Great and the New Hermitage.
4. The Great Hermitage (sometimes called the Old) was specially built in 1771-1787 to house the palace collections, when they could no longer fit in the halls of the Small.
5. The New Hermitage (1842-1851) became the very first building in Russia specifically built for a public museum.
6. In 1852, the paintings became available for viewing to everyone, while previously only a select few could visit the galleries, with special permission.
7. According to the design, the giant granite statues of Atlanteans on the porch (portico) at the entrance to the New Hermitage were not supposed to support the vault; this role was assigned to beams that were simply connected to the statues. However, due to the settlement of the main part of the building and the deformation of the portico, the load also falls on the Atlanteans.
8. The first cracks on the bodies of the Atlanteans were noticed in 1909; their cause is considered to be unreliable soils at the base of the building and, as a consequence, movement and subsidence. In 2010, a full examination of the statues was carried out using the most modern methods, but the project to save them from further destruction has not yet been approved.
9. Collecting paintings in the 18th century and later was a fashionable hobby for imperial houses, and the list of exhibits often reflected their personal tastes and fashion. For example, Catherine II preferred the works of Flemish, Dutch, French and Italian masters.
10. Replenishment of the collection occurred not so much through individual acquisitions, but in “large batches”, when an entire collection of some famous European connoisseur of painting was acquired.
11. In addition to paintings, sculptures, carved stones and even libraries were purchased for the museum.
12. After the death of Catherine, the most active successors of her work were Alexander I and Nicholas I, who supplemented the collection with many valuable exhibits.
13. In the 20th century, the largest revenues to the museum's funds occurred as a result of the nationalization of property after the revolution.
14. During the Great Patriotic War, the building served as a bomb shelter, and the exhibits were evacuated beyond the Urals.
15. Post-war trophies from Berlin were exhibited in the Hermitage only until 1958, after which they were returned to the GDR.
16. The Hermitage collection has not always been replenished; there have been losses throughout history. In the early 30s. 48 masterpieces of world significance and several hundred others valuable exhibits were sold abroad to replenish the state treasury.
17. The Diamond Room - a collection of imperial regalia and jewelry collected since the reign of Peter I - was also taken from the Hermitage, but not to another country, but to the Diamond Fund of the Moscow Kremlin. It became the basis for the creation of this museum.
18. The most important works of art exhibited in the Hermitage are considered to be: “Benois Madonna” and “Madonna Litta” by Leonardo da Vinci, “Danae” and “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt, “Penitent Mary Magdalene” by Titian, “Lady in Blue” by Gainsborough, “ Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary by Renoir, Lady in the Garden by Monet, etc.
19. In addition to paintings, in the Hermitage you can see famous sculptures (“Eternal Spring” by Rodin), the legendary gold watch “Peacock”, presented to Catherine II by Potemkin and still working, the Egyptian mummy of a priest and much more.
20. In total, the Hermitage collection contains more than 1 million exhibits of applied and visual arts, not counting weapons, archaeological, numismatic and other items.
21. The museum has its own official hotel with luxurious interiors and an online store that sells not only souvenirs and reproductions, but also original items decor, decorations, etc.

Modern Hermitage - large Cultural Center, where research work is also carried out.

The museum has partners all over the world, holds visiting exhibitions, and plans to create a restoration and storage center and a Museum of Heraldry in the historical Exchange building on the spit of Vasilievsky Island.

On February 17, 1852, the Hermitage solemnly opened its doors to the public - now more than three million people from all over the world visit it every year. Let's tell you some interesting facts about one of the most popular museums on the planet!

THERE ARE CATS OFFICIALLY WORKING IN THE HERMITAGE

Back in the 18th century, when rats began to damage the walls of the Winter Palace, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna issued a “Decree on the expulsion of cats to the court,” according to which selected hunters were to be sent to her. And Catherine II granted cats an official status: “guards of art galleries.” Today, the museum is guarded by about 70 cats: they are called “freelance employees”; each is issued their own passport and allowed to move around the entire territory of the museum, except for the halls. These “guards” are a real legend of the Hermitage: they are sent gifts from different countries around the world, articles are written about them and films are made.

American Mary Anne Ellin, who once visited the Hermitage with her granddaughter, even published a children's book dedicated to the Hermitage cats - part of the proceeds from sales of the book in the USA was spent on caring for the animals.

EVEN PUSHKIN COULD NOT GET INTO THE HERMITAGE

The Hermitage arose as the private collection of Catherine II - after she acquired a collection of 255 works by Dutch and Flemish artists. The paintings were placed in quiet apartments of the palace, hence the name Hermitage (from French - a place of solitude, a cell, a hermit's shelter). The collection gradually grew, but until the middle of the 19th century, the museum was a place for the elite: it could only be visited with a special pass. Even Alexander Pushkin had to seek patronage for this: the poet Zhukovsky, the teacher of the royal children, helped. The grandson of Catherine II, Emperor Nicholas I, allowed Pushkin to visit the Voltaire Library - the famous collection of books by the philosopher, reading which (let alone making extracts) was strictly forbidden. Nicholas I himself, by the way, also loved to walk around the museum alone and even forbade his servants to contact him at this time regarding everyday matters. However, it was he who made the museum public in 1852, and by 1880 the Hermitage was already visited by about 50,000 people a year.

DURING THE WAR, THE HERMITAGE WAS A BOMB SHELTER

On June 22, 1941, immediately after the start of the Great Patriotic War, museum exhibits began to be evacuated: Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt - works of great artists were packed around the clock, museum employees even slept in the halls. The main part of the collection - about two million exhibits - was taken away; the rest were looked after by employees already during the bombing. In the basements of the Hermitage, they organized 12 bomb shelters: they blocked up the windows with bricks, hung iron doors, and put together trestle beds. Not only museum workers lived here, but also teachers of the Academy of Sciences, artists (they recorded the atmosphere of the blockade in their drawings), and their families. Here, under the dark arches, there was a hospital with 100 beds. And the museum staff, in between shelling, continued to conduct scientific work: scientist Boris Piotrovsky, long years who headed the Hermitage, wrote his book about the ancient city of Karmir-Blur here.

THERE ARE SECRET MASTERPIECES IN THE HERMITAGE STORAGES

Of course, stories about the “bottomless repositories” of the Hermitage have no relation to reality, but from time to time the public is actually presented with paintings that no one knew about the existence (sometimes even the museum staff themselves). For example, in the 60s, a painting by the famous Dutch artist Hendrik Goltzius “Bacchus, Ceres, Venus and Cupid” was literally found by a Dutch art critic. He was drinking tea in the back room with museum staff and saw that there was some kind of leaf lying under the cabinet. It turned out to be a canvas purchased by Catherine II back in 1772 - the find was sent for restoration and returned to the museum display. They say that since then, every employee has been looking around very carefully in the hope of finding a masterpiece. However, sometimes everyone knows about “secret” paintings in storage facilities, but they are revealed to the public many years later: in 1995, for example, at the exhibition “Unknown Masterpieces” 74 works by impressionists and post-impressionists were presented - Renoir, Manet, Pissarro, Monet , Degas, Van Gogh - all the paintings were taken from Germany back in 1945 and have been kept under lock and key since then.

YOU SEE EXHIBITS ALIVE WITHIN THE WALLS OF THE HERMITAGE

Legends about the Hermitage are a whole layer in St. Petersburg mythology: they tell about ghosts walking through the halls, about exhibits coming to life and mystical incidents. One of the most famous such stories is about the bowing Peter I. According to rumors, the wax figure of the emperor stands up, bows and shows visitors to the door. Interestingly, there are actually hinges inside the doll that allow you to put it in and out of a chair - this gives a lot of room for imagination. And for those who like scarier stories, there is a story about one of the exhibits in the hall of Ancient Egypt - a sculpture of the lion-headed goddess Sakhmet, who was extremely bloodthirsty and wanted to wipe out the entire human race from the earth. Once a year, supposedly on the full moon, a reddish puddle appears on the knees of the goddess Sakhmet, similar to a pool of blood. Only the servants notice it, and by the time the first visitor appears, the “blood” has dried up.

A COMPLETE INSPECTION OF THE HERMITAGE TAKES 11 YEARS

The Hermitage today is one of the most popular museums in the world and the largest in Russia. It contains more than three million exhibits, which are presented in five huge buildings. In order to even pass by all the works of art, you need to cover 24 kilometers. And if you spend about a minute with each person, it will take 11 years to go through all the halls: and this is provided that the visitor will visit the museum every day for eight, or even ten hours.

It will take at least eight years to examine more than three million exhibits in the Hermitage. We offer a targeted excursion to get to know the main secrets of the museum.

What about Peacock?

In 1777, Prince Grigory Potemkin decided to Once again surprise Empress Catherine. His choice fell on the work of the English mechanic James Cox. Why exactly on him is unknown. Perhaps the Russian count saw amazing things in the advertising catalogs that the master published. However, it is not entirely clear whether Cox personally carried out the order for the Russian prince or whether Friedrich Yuri helped him. The gift had to be disassembled - otherwise it simply would not have been delivered to Russia. They took it apart, but they couldn’t put it back together - some of the parts turned out to be either broken or lost. The spectacular gift would have been gathering dust if in 1791 Potemkin had not instructed Ivan Kulibin to “revive the birds.” And the master of the highest class did the impossible: the clock started ticking, and the intricate mechanism began to move. As soon as the clock starts ringing, the owl in the cage “comes to life”. As the bells ring, the cage begins to rotate. Then the peacock “wakes up”: its tail rises and begins to unfurl, the bird bows, draws in and throws back its head, and opens its beak. At the moment when the tail fully opens, the peacock turns 180 degrees so that the audience sees its ... butt. Then the feathers drop and the peacock takes its original position. Find out about the real reason Such impartial behavior of a peacock is impossible today. According to one version, Kulibin failed to ensure that the bird made a full rotation. Another legend claims that the master deliberately forced the bird to perform a similar “fouette,” thereby demonstrating his attitude towards royal court, for which the “bird” was intended.

Homer's Tomb

In the Hall of Jupiter you can find another an unsolved mystery Hermitage - “the tomb of Homer”. It was taken either from the island of Andros or from the island of Chios during the First Archipelago Expedition of Count Orlov-Chesmensky. The first owner of the tomb was the “initiator of extraordinary affairs” Count Alexander Stroganov, who wrote: “In the first Turkish war In 1770, the Russian officer Domashnev, who commanded our landing on one of the islands of the Archipelago, brought this sarcophagus to Russia and gave it to me. When I saw this monument, I could not help but exclaim: “Isn’t this a monument to Homer?” The phrase began to pass from mouth to mouth, only, it seemed, without a questioning intonation. Soon, Stroganov's authority as a collector grew incredibly. Of course, because he possessed an item that adventurers from all over the world had been chasing for centuries. However, the “tomb of Homer” is another beautiful legend, like Atlantis or the gold of Troy. Having studied the bas-reliefs, scientists confidently stated that the ancient tomb was created in the 2nd century AD, which means that the person who owned the sarcophagus missed Homer by nine hundred years. But another mystery of the tomb remains unsolved: the completely different style of the back and front walls of the sarcophagus. How, where and when these walls connected is unclear.

Bloodthirsty goddess

In the Egyptian hall you can find one of the oldest Egyptian monuments in Russia - a statue of the goddess of war and retribution, the angry Mut-Sokhmet. According to the myth, the bloodthirsty goddess decided to destroy the human race. The gods decided to save the people: they poured red-tinted beer in front of the goddess, which Mut-Sokhmet mistook for human blood. She drank and calmed down. However, the legend of the Hermitage assures that the danger to people still remains. Allegedly, every year on the full moon a reddish puddle appears on the goddess’s lap. According to another version, the goddess’s feet become covered with a strange reddish wet coating whenever Russia faces another trouble, misfortune, or catastrophe. The last time a raid was allegedly discovered was in 1991. Is there any truth to the legend? And how can you explain the strange “bloody” raid? Answers to these questions have not yet been found.

The Mystery of the Golden Mask

The Hermitage collections contain only three antique gold posthumous masks. One of them is a mask from the tomb of Rhescuporis. In 1837, archaeologists discovered a mound in the vicinity of Kerch; inside they found a stone sarcophagus with a female skeleton, which supposedly belonged to none other than the queen: the whole body was strewn with gold plaques, there was a golden wreath on the head, the face was hidden by a golden mask. Around the sarcophagus was found a large number of valuable items, including a silver dish with the name of King Rheskuporidas, ruler of the Bosporan kingdom, embossed. Scientists assumed that his wife was buried in the sarcophagus, but later doubted it. Until now, the hypothesis that the golden mask hid the face of the Bosporan queen has not been confirmed or refuted.

Bowing Peter

An aura of mystery surrounds the so-called “wax persona” of Peter, which Russian and European craftsmen worked on after the death of the emperor. Many visitors claimed that they saw with their own eyes how the wax Peter stood up, bowed, and then pointed to the door, apparently hinting that it was “time and honor for the guests to know.” In the 20th century, during restoration, hinges were discovered inside the figure, which made it possible to seat and position the figure of Peter in a chair. However, no mechanism was discovered that would allow the king to move independently. Some found the evidence unconvincing, others did not want to lose another beautiful legend. Be that as it may, even today there are many who claim that they were in the hall with a “familiar caretaker” at the very moment when the figure “came to life.”

Unique earrings

In the Siberian collection of Peter I you can find Feodosian earrings made using the ancient Greek granulation technique. Their main decoration is a microscopic multi-figure composition illustrating Athenian competitions. The smallest grains with which one of the parts of the decoration is strewn can only be seen with the help of a magnifying glass. With strong magnification, tiny grains are revealed, which are connected in fours and lined up in rows - it was this finishing that gave the Feodosia earrings worldwide fame. The world's best jewelers tried to create copies of Feodosia jewelry, but the task turned out to be impossible. Neither the soldering method nor the composition of the solder used by the ancient masters could be determined.

"Icon of the Godless Time"

One of the most scandalous masterpieces, Malevich's Black Square from 1932, can also be found in the Hermitage. The author himself interpreted the idea as infinity, generalized into a single sign, calling the “Black Square” an icon of a new, godless time. Disputes about the ideological content of the painting have been going on for a long time, but from the moment the painting was exhibited in the Hermitage, attention has been drawn again and again to its “destructive” energy: some visitors near it lost consciousness, others, on the contrary, became frantically excited. Is the world's masterpiece truly endowed with mystical power, or is this another attempt to “add fuel to the fire”? These questions are easy to answer, you just have to visit the Hermitage.