The Hermitage

© Lonely Planet Publications THE HERMITAGE Art treasure trove: the Winter Palace (p128) An undeniable highlight is the French and STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM German paintings from the 19th and 20th THE RUSSIAN ARK centuries. The collection of impressionist and postimpressionist paintings is arguably the Film director Alexander Sokurov celebrates the Her- best in the world, especially considering re- mitage’s history and artistry in his highly lauded film cent additions. Much of this artwork was dis- The Russian Ark. The viewer sees through the eyes played for the first time in the 1990s, when the of an unnamed narrator, a ghost who resides in the Hermitage revealed some fabulous art hoards Winter Palace. The other character is a 19th-century kept secret since seizure by the Red Army visitor, the Marquis de Custine, who wrote extensively from Germany at the end of WWII. about his travels to Russia. In one unedited sweep, The Western European art is remark- the narrator guides the ‘European’ through 33 rooms able – and highly recommended – but the of the Winter Palace and 300 years of Russian history. Hermitage collection is broader still. Prehis- The film premiered for St Petersburg’s tercentenary toric pieces date back to the Palaeolithic and in 2003. Neolithic Ages. Egyptian mummies, Greek artefacts and Roman sculpture recall those ancient cultures. And in the furthest, seemingly forgotten corners of the museum, the Orien- tal collection covers the Middle East, China and Japan. The wealth of the collection itself is limitless: vast as the amount of artwork on display in the museums is, there’s about 20 times more in its vaults. The main complex of the Hermitage – covered in this chapter – consists of five linked buildings along Dvortsovaya nab: the massive green and white, glittering façade of the Winter Palace; the original Little Hermitage; the Old and New Hermitages, which are usually grouped together as the Large Hermitage; and the Hermitage Theatre ( p188 ), which is open only for special events and per- formances. Other facilities that are technically part of the State Hermitage Museum are covered elsewhere in this book, including the General Staff Building ( p66 ), the Winter Palace of Peter I ( p67 ), Menshikov The Hermitage’s imperious Winter Palace façade Palace ( p110 ), the Hermitage Storage Facility ( p121 ) and the Imperial Porcelain factory ( p158 ). An additional special collection known as the Golden Rooms (%571 8446; admission R350) is open In 1764 Empress Catherine II purchased the only by guided tour. The focus is a hoard of fabulous Scythian and Greek gold and silver from art collection of Johann Gotzkowski and put HERMITAGE HIGHLIGHTS the Caucasus, Crimea and Ukraine, dating from the 7th to 2nd centuries BC. it on display in the ‘small hermitage’ where she entertained guests. This collection would Ancient Egypt (Room 100) p134 grow into one of the world’s most celebrated Jordan Staircase p139 art museums, eventually filling the original 19th- and 20th-century French Painting building, as well as the classical Large Her- (Rooms 143–146) p138 mitage and the baroque Winter Palace, with millions of artistic masterpieces from around Imperial staterooms and apartments, including the world. Today, it comprises the State Her- the Malachite Hall, Nicholas Hall, Armorial Hall and mitage Museum, the geographic and tourism Hall of St George (Rooms 178–198) p139 centrepiece of St Petersburg. Pavilion Hall (Room 204) p138 No other institution so embodies the opu- Leonardo da Vinci (Room 214) p137 lence and extravagance of the tsarist regime Master of Light, Rembrandt (Room 254) p138 which ruled from the Winter Palace for more than a century. But today – for the price of Dreamy impressionists and postimpressionists admission – anybody can parade down the (Rooms 316–320) p142 grand staircases and across parquet floors, Russian Avant-Garde (Room 333) p143 gawking at crystal chandeliers and gilded The Many Facets of Matisse and Picasso furniture. (Rooms 343–350) p144 More importantly, all are invited to peruse the glorious artwork. Each year, millions of art lovers flock to the Hermitage to feast their eyes on the Western European collection – which spans history from the Middle Ages through to the modern period – appropriate for this city which was built to be Russia’s ‘window to the West.’ Occupying more than 120 rooms, the collection does not miss much: Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French, English and German art are all covered from the 15th to the 18th centuries, while the Italian collection goes back all the way to the 13th century, including the Florentine and Venetian Renaissance. The Blinding of Samson by Rembrandt (p138) Hot-footing it past a statue outside the Hermitage 126 127 Most of the classical interiors in the ceremonial rooms that we see today – including the Grand HISTORY Hall, the Throne Room and the Armorial Hall – were designed by Stasov. RUSSIA’S FIRST PUBLIC MUSEUM The imperial rulers occupied this spot Nicholas I was the first ruler to open the collection to the public. During a visit to Germany in overlooking the Neva ever since the days 1838 he was impressed by the museums he saw in Munich – specifically, by the idea of buildings of Peter the Great. that were architectural masterpieces in themselves, designed specifically to house and preserve His first, relatively modest mansion stood on artistic masterpieces. He employed German architect Leo von Klenze and local boy Vasily Stasov the site of the Hermitage Theatre (see Winter to carry out such a project in the proximity of the Winter Palace. The result was the ‘neo-Grecian’ Palace of Peter I, p67 ). New Hermitage, adorned by statues and bas-relief depicting great artists, writers and other cultural figures. After 11 years of work, the museum was opened to the public in 1852. A NEW WINTER PALACE It was Empress Anna who first engaged a THE STORMING OF THE WINTER PALACE young Bartolomeo Rastrelli to incorporate After the February Revolution in 1917, Alexander Kerensky and the Provisional Government the existing structures into a proper palace occupied the Winter Palace. However, the 26 October ‘storming’ of the Winter Palace was in the 1730s. But even this effort would not not nearly as dramatic as history makes it out to be. The cruiser Aurora fired a blank shot to satisfy the whims of ever-extravagant Empress signal the start of the assault; and the Red Guards – led by Lenin – moved in on the Winter Elizabeth. In 1754 she signed a decree ordering Palace, which was being guarded by the ‘Women’s Battalion of Death’. Three shells struck the the creation of a Winter Palace, and she closely building, bullet holes riddled the square side of the palace and a window was shattered on the supervised its design and construction. Her 3rd floor before the Provisional Government was arrested in the Small Dining Room behind inopportune death in 1761 occurred only a few the Malachite Hall. This largely bloodless battle would be celebrated for 70 years as the most months before the Winter Palace was finally glorious moment in history. completed to her plans. The baroque Winter Palace (right) Visitors and residents were wowed by the capital’s newest addition, ‘visible from a dis- GROWING THE COLLECTION tance, rising above the rooftops, the upper sto- Since Catherine the Great made her first significant artistic purchase in 1764, the imperial art rey of the new winter palace, adorned with a host of statues,’ as described by one 18th-century collection had grown consistently, as each new ruler procured paintings, sculpture and artefacts visitor to the capital. But the palace – of course – was a private residence. After the death of to add to the store of treasures. But it was the postrevolutionary period that saw a threefold Empress Elizabeth, Peter III lived here for only three months before he was overthrown in a increase in the collection. In 1917 the Winter Palace and the Hermitage were declared to be palace coup and replaced by Catherine the Great. This grand baroque building thenceforth state museums. And throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the new Soviet state seized and nation- became the official residence of the imperial family. alised countless valuable private collections, namely those of the Stroganovs, Sheremetyevs, Shuvalovs, Yusupovs and the Baron Stieglitz. In 1948 it incorporated the renowned collections THE IMPERIAL ART Arch your neck and take in the long view Fine ceiling detail puts art in a higher place COLLECTION Catherine and her successors didn’t much care for Rastrelli’s baroque interiors and had most of the rooms completely remodelled in classical style. Catherine also built the Little Hermitage next door – and later the so-called Old Her- mitage – to house her growing art collection. In the 1780s Giacomo Quarenghi added the Hermitage Theatre, which served as the private theatre for the imperial family. In December 1837 a devastating fire broke out in the heating shaft of the Field Marshals’ Hall; it burned for over 30 hours and destroyed a large portion of the interior. Most of the imperial belongings were saved, thrown out of windows or dragged outside to sit in the snow. Nicholas I vowed to restore the palace as quickly as possible, employing architect Vasily Stasov and thousands of workers to toil around the clock. Their efforts were not in vain, as the project was completed in a little over a year. 128 129 ART UNDER SIEGE ADMISSION & TOURS ‘The empty Hermitage was like a house from which a corpse has been carried out.’ Such was the description of one local artist, who laboured for weeks on end, packing away artwork in anticipation of a Nazi attack on Leningrad. On a grim day in the summer of 1941 the Hermitage staff received an emergency summons to the museum.

Load more