The State Hermitage. Hermitage (St. Petersburg): a collection of paintings

What places are the most visited by tourists when they come to St. Petersburg? The Hermitage, the Kunstkamera and the cruiser Aurora.

What is unique about the Hermitage?

It is the world's largest art, cultural and historical museum. It is also known and popular, like the Louvre, the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum. The State Hermitage stores 3 million exhibits, of which only 15,000 paintings. It is estimated that if you give only one minute to each exhibit of the museum, then it will take ... 8 years to see all the collections of the Hermitage! And this is only taking into account permanent exhibitions, but not temporary exhibitions. The Hermitage organizes a dozen of them every month. And the length of all corridors is 20 km. But the main highlight of this museum is not in scale and not in the quantity of stored historical objects, but in that there are originals of many masterpieces of world painting and other kinds of art.

Where is?

The museum's location is on the Dvortsovaya Embankment. The State Hermitage is a complex of five buildings (the Winter Palace, the New Hermitage, the Great 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. The day off is Monday. But attention: cash departments stop selling tickets one hour before closing. It is better to plan a trip to the Hermitage for hours before lunch and on weekdays - fewer people. But on the weekend sometimes you have to stand in line for about an hour.

Ticket prices

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 rubles. But every first Thursday of the month is a free day for everyone.

History of creation

In 1764, Catherine II bought 225 paintings from the collection of the German merchant Johann Gotzkowski. This selection was intended for the King of Prussia Frederick II, but because of financial problems, he could not redeem it. An enterprising merchant offered to do this to the Russian Empress, and she agreed without hesitation to show off to the German monarch. Since Gotzkovskii did not possess a deep knowledge of the field of art, the collection included rather mediocre paintings (compared to those that were later). Mostly these were works by Dutch and Flemish artists, as well as some works by Italian artists of the 17th century. But among them one should mention the works of Khals and Sten.

This year (1764th) is considered to be the foundation year of the Hermitage, although the museum in the modern concept of this word was not yet. Five years later the following acquisition took place: 600 canvases from the private collection of Count von Brühl. There were valuable exhibits: "Portrait of an old man in red" by Rembrandt, "Perseus and Andromeda" by Rubens and others.

Another 400 paintings were bought from the French collector Pierre Crosse. Thus in St. Petersburg were the "Holy Family" Raphael, "Judith" Giorgione, "Danae" Titian, "Portrait of the Chamberlain Infanta Isabella" Rubens, "Self-Portrait" Van Dyck.

For Catherine, the acquisition of masterpieces of world painting was primarily a political gesture to show that the Russian Empire is a developed and non-poor country that can afford such luxury. In 1774, the Empress owned 2080 pictures, but there was no general access to them. By this period is the famous phrase of Catherine that it admires only she and the mouse. Although later access to the gallery was opened, but by special permission.

Later, the Hermitage received valuables, taken from the mansions of the nobility and other royal palaces. The museum was enriched with private collections of the Yusupovs, Stroganoffs, Sheremetyevs. Other institutions also donated their exhibits to the Hermitage.

Collection of paintings

Thanks to the exhibits of the Hermitage, one can trace the history of world painting and observe the development of the art of England, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, France and other countries. For example, the collection features 7,000 paintings by only European artists, from the Middle Ages to 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, therefore some samples are open to wide access only a few weeks a year to save them.

Halls of Western European art are decorated according to the chronological and geographical principle, that is, in one collected works of painters of a particular country for a specific period of time. For example, the gallery of Italian painting of the XIII-XVIII centuries can boast such masterpieces as "Annunciation" by Simone Martini, "Madonna Benois" and "Madonna Litta" by Leonardo da Vinci, "Holy Family" Raphael.

A very rich exposition of the Flemish fine arts of the XVII-XVIII centuries. The pride of the collection is 32 paintings by Rubens ("Union of Earth and Water", "Bacchus" and large monumental-decorative cycles), 24 works by his disciple Van Dyck ("Self-portrait").

In the gallery of Spanish painting of the XV - the beginning of the XVIII century canvases of El Greco ("Apostles Peter and Paul"), Velasquez ("Breakfast"), de Goya ("Portrait of actress Antonia Sarate"). It is possible to observe the development of Gothic and realistic tendencies, as well as of caravagism.

An exceptionally rich collection of paintings (about 1000) by Dutch artists, including early and late Rembrandt.

As widely as in the Hermitage, English painting is represented only in the UK itself. Of great interest are the works of court portraitists. One of the world famous paintings is "Portrait of a Lady in Blue" by Thomas Gainsborough.

In the exhibition hall of painting of France XV-XVIII centuries the most important place is occupied by the work of the classicist Nicolas Poussin. A collection of works of the second half of the XIX - XX century is rightfully considered one of the best in the world. There is also the famous Impressionist Monet ("Lady in the Garden, " "Waterloo Bridge"), and Renoir ("The Girl with a Fan"), and Degas ("Concorde Square"). The pride of this collection is 38 Origins of Matisse and 31 - Picasso.

Masters of Berlin and Munich schools stand out in the hall of German art. Also attract attention battal canvases dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812 and the work of Frederick in the style of Romanticism.

Recently, the State Hermitage acquired the "Black Square" by Malevich. This is one of the most famous works of Russian art of the last century.

What is the conclusion? You can still talk about architectural monuments and sculptures of the Hermitage for a long time. But to read about masterpieces of painting is much less exciting than enjoying the beautiful firsthand. Therefore, we must go without hesitation and buy tickets to the Hermitage for the whole family. It will be informative.