LANDMARKS

Hermitage:

The great museum of Russia

The Winter Palace

Most of you are sure to have visited the Colombo National Museum. This is the biggest and most important museum in Sri Lanka, while there are many other smaller regional museums in the country. A museum is a vital element to display a country’s history and heritage, and all countries have museums showcasing that country’s past grandeur as well as more modern scientific developments.

One such museum that holds pride of place in the world stage is the Hermitage in Russia. Officially known as the State Hermitage, this massive complex comprising many buildings is situated along the embankment of the River Neva, in the heart of St Petersburg.

The Hermitage is considered as a landmark not only because of the magnificent building which had been put together over two and a half centuries, but also due to its extensive collection of art comprising over 3,000,000 items including paintings, graphic and applied art, sculptures, archaeological monuments and numismatics (coins and medals).

The Peace Clock, one of the most important exhibits at the HermitageThe Peace Clock, one of the most important exhibits at the Hermitage

This collection encompasses everything from the development of the world culture and art from the Stone Age to the 20th century. The Main Museum Complex of the State Hermitage occupies 365 rooms in six buildings constructed in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage and the New Hermitage display the collections of monuments of culture and art of the ancient world, Western Europe, Russia and the countries of the Orient, as well as archaeological and numismatic collections.

The Hermitage Theatre and the Reserve House also form part of this Main Museum Complex.The most important and unique architectural element in this complex is the Winter Palace of Peter the Great, the residence of the Russian tsars (emperors). Construction of this palace was commissioned by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna; it was designed by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-62.

The museum was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great, who ascended the throne in 1762, purchased a collection of Flemish and Dutch paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernest Gotzkowski. The construction of the Small Hermitage was carried out between 1764 and 1775, while the Great Hermitage was constructed between 1771 and 1787.

A memorial exhibit dedicated to Peter the Great and his era could be seen in a part of the Winter Palace which has been preserved. In the study, dining room and turnery (metal or wood workshop), rooms that the Emperor had used, the decor has been recreated using genuine articles that belonged to him. A wax sculptural portrait of Peter I is on display here.

The great halls of the museum

A fire destroyed some sections of the Winter Palace in 1837. However, its state halls were reconstructed by Vasily Stasoy in 1840. Some of the state halls of the Winter Palace served as a hospital in 1914, during World War I. It was in 1917 that the Winter Palace and State Hermitage were declared state museums.

The Museum of Porcelain, another interesting section of the Hermitage, was created in 1844 as part of the Imperial Porcelain Factory. Since 2001 it has been a section of the museum. The collection includes more than 30,000 objects made in the Imperial Porcelain Factory from the 18th to the 20th century, as well as porcelain by European and domestic manufacturers.

The General Staff building, another section of the museum, was designed by the architect Carlo Rossi and was built during 1820-27. It is an outstanding architectural monument in the style of Russian Classicism. The Eastern Wing of the building, which once housed several ministries, is now home to both permanent and temporary exhibitions of the Hermitage. The Museum of the Russian Guard Regiments is also found in the General Staff building.

During 1941, at the start of the Second World War, the collections of the Hermitage were evacuated to the Urals. The museum was reopened after the war in 1945. In 1999, the national flag of the Russian Federation and the standard of its President were transferred to the State Hermitage. The museum now operates other branch museums in many foreign countries such as USA and the Netherlands.