Эрмитаж: Залы Эрмитажа. Набор открыток

THE SMALL HERMITAGE is one of the oldest of the buildings which formed the architectural complex of the Hermitage in the centre of St Petersburg, most of them dating from the second half of the eighteenth century. It was built alongside the Winter Palace in 1764—76 by the architect Yury Velten in the style of Early Classicism (its northern pavilion facing on to the Neva was built according to a design by Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe). Inside were displayed the art collections which formed the basis of the world-famous museum and art gallery. The collections grew quickly and in 1771—87 Velten put up a new building alongside and in line with the Small Hermitage. The new building came to be known as the Old (or Great) Hermitage. The interior decor of both buildings underwent substantial changes in the mid-nineteenth century when they were redesigned by Andrei Stakenschneider in a mixture of architectural styles from the past. The complex of buildings which runs along the Neva embankment is completed by the severe classical facade of the Hermitage Theatre, built in 1773—87 by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi. The auditorium, conceived like a Roman amphitheatre, has preserved its late eighteenth century appearance despite numerous alterations over the years. The arch linking the Theatre to the rest of the Hermitage contains a foyer designed by Leonty Benois in 1904. The building known as Raphael’s Loggias was erected along the banks of the Winter Canal under the supervision of Quarenghi. It is an exact copy of the loggias in the Vatican which Raphael and his pupils decorated with frescoes. The interior design of the Hermitage halls and rooms is itself a monument to Russian architecture and decorative art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and therefore may be considered as much worthy of the visitor’s attention as the art collections preserved within their walls.

T. Sokolova