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The State Hermitage Museum was founded
On December 7th, the State Hermitage Museum celebrates the birthday of the museum. This day is also known as the memorial day for the Christian Great Martyr Catherine of Alexandria.
The history of the Hermitage begins in 1764 when Empress Catherine II purchased a collection of European paintings from I. E. Gotzkowski, a Berlin merchant with debt obligations to Russia. The collection consisted of paintings by Flemish, Dutch, and Italian artists from the first half of the 17th century, and it numbered between 225 and 317 pieces, according to different sources. The collection was originally intended for the Prussian king Frederick II, but he refused to purchase it after losing the Seven Years' War.
Catherine II, who saw collecting as a matter of national importance, took the opportunity to enhance her image as an enlightened ruler and demonstrate that Russia was a European power. With the help of the Russian ambassador to Prussia, Prince V.S. Dolgorukov, the collection arrived in St. Petersburg in the summer of 1764.
The paintings were housed in a building attached to the Winter Palace between 1764 and 1775, designed by J.B.M. Wallen. This structure, known as the Hermitage, was named after the French word for a place of solitude or a hermit's abode, as it was the Empress's private retreat. Later, the name "Hermitage" became synonymous with the entire museum complex.
To replenish the Hermitage collection, a large number of private collections of paintings were acquired abroad. These included those of Count G. F. Bruhl (1769), Baron P. Croz (1772), and Sir R. Walpole (1779). By 1774, the Winter Palace catalog contained over 2,000 works. In the posthumous inventory of Catherine II's estate in 1796, there were already 3,996 paintings. Baron F. M. Grimm, who was one of the empress's intermediaries in acquiring art objects, described the empress as being "subject to terrible and sudden illnesses when it came to paintings."
In addition to paintings, the collection also included collections of prints, drawings, antique antiques, works of Western European decorative and applied arts, coins, medals, and books. In 1779, Catherine's Voltaire Library was placed in the Winter Palace chambers by its heirs. In 1785, the book collection of another prominent French educator, Denis Diderot, was also added to the collection.
For the expanded collection in 1771-1787, the architect Y. M. Felten designed and built the building of the Grand Hermitage. This building is located on the Palace Embankment, "in line" with the previous extension by J. B. Vallen-Delamot, which is now known as the Small Hermitage. In 1783-1789, the Court Hermitage Theatre was built according to the design of J. Quarenghi. This theatre became a place where the stars of European and Russian stages shone, complementing the emerging architectural ensemble on the Palace Embankment.
In the 19th century, the Hermitage collection started to include not only paintings, but also individual works by famous artists such as Caravaggio, Raphael, A. Carracci, Jan van Eyck, Titian, and P. Vecchio. A valuable addition was purchased in 1815 by Alexander I for the art gallery of the Malmaison Palace, which belonged to Napoleon's wife, Josephine. The museum started receiving materials from archaeological excavations, which formed the basis for the famous Scythian collection. From the second half of the century, thanks to the efforts of art critic and senior curator A. Somov, the collection began to grow with works by Russian artists, some of which were later transferred to the Russian Museum in 1895.
The 19th century was a time of significant change for the Hermitage. During this period, the interiors of the Winter Palace were formed, with the inauguration of the Military Gallery in 1826 and the creation of the Petrovsky (Small) Throne Hall, Field Marshal Hall, and Malachite Hall between 1833 and 1839. Under the leadership of A. I. Stackenschneider in the 1850s and 1860s, the Pavilion Hall and interiors of the Grand Hermitage were also created.
Prior to the middle of the 19th century, the Hermitage had been a closed museum, accessible only to a select few. However, during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, the art collection was opened to the public in 1852, when the New Hermitage building, designed by L. F. Klenze, was completed.
After the October Revolution, on October 30 (November 12) 1917, the Winter Palace and the Hermitage were declared state museums. In 1920, on January 11, the Museum of the October Revolution was opened in the Winter Palace. It existed until 1947, when it was closed due to the start of the Great Patriotic War.
During the war, more than 1 million items from the Hermitage collection were evacuated to the Urals, while the museum staff in Leningrad took care of the remaining buildings and non-exportable exhibits. During this time, 52 employees of the Hermitage lost their lives. After the liberation of Leningrad Siege, on August 24, 1944, restoration work started in the museum, and on November 8, 1945, the Hermitage reopened to the public after the return of its collections from evacuation.
The State Hermitage Museum is now one of the largest and most popular art and cultural-historical museums in the world. It has a collection of approximately three million works of art and artifacts dating back to the Stone Age, making it a treasure trove for art lovers and history enthusiasts.
Lit.: Добровольский В. И. Эрмитаж: История зданий и коллекций. СПб., 2009; Конивец А. В. Музей Революции во «дворце тиранов и деспотов» // От «Авроры» до «философских пароходов». Борьба с инакомыслием в первые годы советской власти (1917–1920-е гг.). Региональный аспект. Материалы III Всероссийской научно-практической конференции (Пермский национальный исследовательский политехнический университет. Пермь, 23–24 ноября 2018 г.). Пермь, 2018. С. 101–111; Пиотровский Б. Б. История Эрмитажа: Краткий очерк. Материалы и документы. М., 2000; Пиотровский М. Б. Эрмитаж. М., 2003; Сомов А. И. Эрмитаж Императорский // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона: в 86 т. Т. XLI. СПб., 1904. С. 35–39; Труды Государственного Эрмитажа // М., Л.–М., Л., СПб., 1956–... [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://kronk.spb.ru/library/trge.htm.
Based on the materials of the Presidential Library: