Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• You've seen the most important historical rooms in the Hermitage. At this point, most
people do best to focus on one or two artistic periods from among the Hermitage's
vast collections. The basic options are to proceed directly into the
Old Masters
col-
lection—with an emphasis on Italian Renaissance, plus an excellent Rembrandt collec-
tion—in the adjoining rooms (for details, see the next section); or to skip forward several
centuries and head upstairs to the fine
Modern Masters
collection (for directions on walk-
ing there, see
here
).
Part 2: Old Masters
• The Italian Renaissance works we'll see are on the same floor as the historic rooms.
Just beyond the Pavilion Room and the Peacock Clock, proceed straight through the top
of the stairwell (with the huge, green malachite-and-bronze vase) and enter the long hall-
way. Here begins the Old Hermitage's collection of Italian art. While there's a lot to see,
for now pass through several rooms—209 (pause at the Fra Angelico fresco of Mary and
Baby Jesus with Thomas Aquinas and St. Dominic), 210 (with some fine majolica), 211,
212, and 213—until you emerge in the grand room 214.
Leonardo da Vinci
Considering that there are only about 20 paintings in existence by the great Renaissance
Man, the two humble Madonnas in the Hermitage are world-class treasures. Leonardo da
Vinci (1452-1519) reinvented the art of painting and influenced generations of artists, and
these two small works were landmarks in technique, composition, and the portrayal of nat-
ural human emotion.
