Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE IMPERIAL ART COLLECTION
Collecting art became something of an obsession for Catherine, and she bought some
of the most extensive private collections in Europe, including those of Heinrich von
Brühl, Lord Robert Walpole and Baron Pierre Crozat. By 1774 Catherine's collection
included over 2000 paintings, and at the time of her death in 1796 that number had
doubled.
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 Hermitage - to house her
growing art collection, and allowed prominent people to privately visit the collection
on application. In the 1780s Giacomo Quarenghi added the Hermitage Theatre, which
served as the private theatre for the imperial family, and is still used today for intimate
classical music concerts.
The early 19th century saw a continued expansion of the collection, particularly in
the field of classical antiquity, due both to the continued acquisition of other collec-
tions and rich finds being discovered in southern Russia. More acquisitions followed
Russia's victory over Napoleon in 1812 and included the private collection of Napole-
on's consort, Joséphine de Beauharnais.
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 interi-
or. 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 pos-
sible, 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. Most of the classical interiors in the ceremonial rooms that we see today, includ-
ing the Grand Hall, the Throne Room and the Armorial Hall, were designed by
Stasov.
RUSSIA'S FIRST PUBLIC ART MUSEUM
While Peter the Great opened the Kunstkamera ( CLICK HERE ), his private collection
of curiosities, to the public in the early 18th century, it was Nicholas I who eventually
opened the first public art museum in Russia. During a visit to Germany in 1838 he
was impressed by the museums he saw in Munich - specifically, by the idea of build-
ings that were architectural masterpieces in themselves, designed specifically to house
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