Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History of the Hermitage
In 1764 Catherine the Great purchased the art collection of Johann Gotzkowski,
which contained a large number of now priceless Rubens, Rembrandts and Van
Dycks. The capricious empress put the collection on display in the 'small hermit-
age' where she entertained her guests. Little did anyone know this collection
would grow into one of the world's most celebrated art museums, eventually
filling the original building, as well as the classical Large Hermitage and the
baroque Winter Palace, with millions of artistic masterpieces from around the
world.
A NEW WINTER PALACE
It was Empress Anna who first engaged a young Bartolomeo Rastrelli to incorporate
the existing structures into a proper palace in the 1730s. But even this effort would not
satisfy the whims of ever-extravagant Empress Elizabeth. In 1754 she signed a decree
ordering the creation of a winter palace, and she closely supervised its design and con-
struction. Her inopportune death in 1761 occurred only a few months before the Winter
Palace was finally completed to her design, but her legacy has been confirmed by what
is arguably St Petersburg's most strikingly beautiful palace.
Visitors and residents were wowed by the capital's newest addition, 'visible from a
distance, rising above the rooftops, the upper storey of the new Winter Palace, adorned
with a host of statues', as it was described by one 18th-century visitor to the capital.
But the palace, of course, was a private residence. After the death of Empress Eliza-
beth, Peter III lived here for only three months before he was overthrown in a palace
coup and replaced by Catherine the Great. This grand baroque building thenceforth be-
came the official residence of the imperial family.
The Hermitage's distinct appearance, with its two-tone green walls and
white painted columns, actually only dates from 1945. Before then it was a
number of different colours reflecting the personal taste of the tsars and the
changing fashions of the time.
