One of the largest museums in the world, the State Hermitage occupies six magnificent buildings situated along the embankment of the River Neva, right in the heart of Saint Petersburg. The leading role in this unique architectural ensemble is played by the Winter Palace that was built to the design of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-62 as the residence of the Russian tsars. At that time it was the most majestic and beautiful building in Saint Petersburg, no other building could and wasn't allowed to surpass it: a special decree was issued, that prohibited the construction of any building higher than the Winter Palace. The Winter Palace, an outstanding example of the 18th century splendid baroque architecture, became the symbol of the State Hermitage and for many citizens and tourists the synonym of the main museum of the Northern capital.
From French the name of the museum that is annually visited by 3,5 million people, is translated as "a secluded place". In the 18th century palaces and pavilions meant only for the members of the royal family and their most intimate friends were very popular in Europe. The enlightened Empress Catherine II, following Versailles fashion, also decided to built such "a secluded place" where she could enjoy the art and rest. In 1764 in immediate proximity to the Winter Palace a special building to house the royal art collection, the Small Hermitage, was erected. There the first collection of 225 paintings (so-called Johann Gotzkowski's collection), acquired in Berlin by prince V.Dolgoruky for Empress Catherine II, was placed. This date is considered to be the year of the museum's foundation.
In the 18th century the collection of the Hermitage constantly grew. Thus, for example at the end of the 18th century, the collection was enriched with such masterpieces as Raphael's Holy Family, Giorgione's Judith, Danae by Tizian, The Holy Family by Rembrandt, Rubens's The Stone Carters, Anthony van Dyck's The Virgin with Partridges, John the Baptist by Nicolas Poussin, and others. Buying canvas of the famous masters, sometimes even the whole art galleries, Catherine II not only satisfied her own ambitions but demonstrated startled Europe that Russia was no longer a primitive woody land but a flourishing European country, prospering under the scepter of the powerful and enlightened monarch. In the 19th century along with paintings the collections of engravings and drawings, wonderful sculptures, numerous works of applied art, coins and medals, ancient arms and medieval armor, rare books and manuscripts were bought.
On February 5, 1852 in the building of the New Hermitage the ceremonial opening of the Imperial Hermitage Museum, the first public art museum in Russia, took place. Formally the museum was open for representatives of all social classes but in fact lower classes couldn't visit the museum: to get the ticket one should go to a special palace office, where only the visitors in tail-coats and full-dressed uniform were allowed to enter.
In the years of World War I the Winter Palace ceased to be an official Imperial residence: valuables were moved out and the empty state rooms were used to house the Tsesarevich Alexey Nikolayevich Hospital. In 1917 the Soviet authorities announced the Winter Palace and the Hermitage the property of the nation and the state museum. The new government carried out the nationalization policy: private property of the ruling class of the tsarist Russia was expropriated. The biggest part of the treasures was transferred to the Hermitage, thus in the first years of the Soviet power its collection had increased greatly. In the 1920s the collection of the Hermitage was enriched with the works of art from the Anichkov and Marble Palaces, with the private collections of the Yusupov, Stroganov and Sheremetyev families, art collections from the suburban imperial residences at Gatchina, Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo and others.
Nowadays the Hermitage treasures one of the biggest collections of works of art. Over 3,000,000 items present the development of the spiritual and material culture from the Stone Age to the 20th century. The walk around the exhibition halls is like traveling through time and epochs. The visitors are welcomed to admire the richest collection of Ancient and early Medieval items, works of art from Ancient Greece and Rome, fabulous treasures of Oriental culture and wonderful European art.
The Hermitage is especially proud of its collection of Western European art, numbering over 600,000 items. This collection, regarded as one of the finest in the world, presents all the stages in the development of art from the Middle Ages till nowadays. The permanent exhibition, familiarizing visitors with masterpieces by outstanding artists from Italy, Spain, Holland, Flanders, France, England, Germany, and other Western European countries, occupies 120 rooms in the four museum buildings. On display there are works by the great masters - Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian, Michelangelo, Francisco de Goya, Renoir, Picasso and many others.
To see all the exhibits treasured in the Hermitage is just impossible. Scientists had religiously calculated that if you watch each item nor longer than a minute and spend daily in the Hermitage 8 hours, it will take you almost 15 years to view all the museum's exhibits.