Museums: Exhibition “Painting and Sculpture in Rome in 2nd half of the 18th Century” in St. Petersburg

On June 24, 2011 the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg) staged an exhibition “Painting and Sculpture in Rome in 2nd half of the 18th Century”, which is a part of the Cultural Exchange Year for Russia and Italy.

In the second half of 18th century Europe was swept by a new wave of interest in antique art. It was mainly inspired by excavations conducted in Rome, Tivoli, Pompeii and Herculaneum. Rome is becoming the artistic center of Neoclassicism. In that time prominent artists of different nationalities were working here: the Italians - Giovanni Paolo Panini and Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, the Germans Anton Raphael Mengs and Jacob Philipp Hackert, the Frenchmen Jacques-Louis David and Hubert Robert, as well as the famous sculptors - the Frenchman Jean-Antoine Houdon and the Italian Antonio Canova.

The State Hermitage Museum and other museums of Russia keep a unique collection of works, created in Rome at that time. The exhibition puts on show 49 paintings and 29 sculptures, including exhibits originating from the State Russian Museum, Pavlovsk State Museum Reserve and Gatchina State Museum Reserve.