Original taken from bolivar_s in A walk through the halls of the Hermitage. Part 3.

A walk through the halls of the Hermitage. Part 3. The word Hermitage comes from the French “ermitage” (secluded corner). In one of the premises of the Small Hermitage, by order of Catherine II, a room was built with two tables that rose from the first floor. The raised tables were already set and it was possible to dine without the help of servants, in this secluded corner.

The beginning of the museum's collection dates back to 1764, when the German merchant Gotzkowski gave Russia his collection of 225 paintings as a debt. They were placed in the Small Hermitage. Catherine II ordered the purchase of all valuable works of art exhibited at auctions abroad. Gradually, the premises of the Small Palace became insufficient. And works of art began to be placed in a newly built building called the Old Hermitage.

Five buildings connected to each other on Palace Embankment, make up the Hermitage museum complex:

* Winter Palace (1754 - 1762, architect B. F. Rastrelli)
* Small Hermitage (1764 - 1775, architects J. B. Vallin-Delamot, Yu. M. Felten, V. P. Stasov). The Small Hermitage complex includes the Northern and Southern Pavilions, as well as the famous Hanging Garden
* Great Hermitage (1771 - 1787, architect Yu. M. Felten)
* New Hermitage (1842 - 1851, architects Leo von Klenze, V. P. Stasov, N. E. Efimov)
* Hermitage Theater (1783 - 1787, architect G. Quarenghi)

View from the Neva of the complex of buildings of the State Hermitage: from left to right the Hermitage Theater - the Bolshoi (Old) Hermitage - the Small Hermitage - the Winter Palace; (The New Hermitage is located behind the Bolshoi)

Great (Old) Hermitage

Soviet staircase Since 1828, the first floor of the Great Hermitage was occupied by the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, for which a new entrance and a new Soviet staircase were built in the western part of the building (architect A. I. Stackenschneider).
The interior is designed in light colors: the walls are decorated with panels and pilasters made of white and pink artificial marble, the upper platform is decorated with white marble columns. The plafond “The Virtues Present Russian Youth to the Goddess Minerva” decorated the Oval Hall, which was originally located on the site of the staircase. The only accent in the interior is a malachite vase (Ekaterinburg, 1850s). The name of the staircase is explained by the fact that in the 19th century. on the ground floor of the building there were premises of the State Council.

Upper platform of the Soviet Stairs

Halls of the Great Hermitage

The first floor of the building is occupied by administrative premises and the directorate of the State Hermitage. These premises were once occupied by the State Council, and since 1885 - by the Tsarskoye Selo Arsenal.

Halls of Italian painting of the XIII-XVIII centuries

The halls of the second floor (former living rooms of the Nadvornaya Enfilade and the halls of the Front Enfilade along the Neva) display works by Renaissance masters: Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian.

Titian Hall The Titian Hall is one of the rooms in the Outer Enfilade of the Old (Large) Hermitage, designed by A.I. Stackenschneider in the 1850s. These apartments were intended for noble guests of the imperial court. 19th century decoration Only partially preserved in the interior. During the restoration carried out in 2003, the walls were painted to match the color of the damask with which the room was previously upholstered, according to archival data. The hall displays paintings from the late period of Titian (Tiziano Vecellio, 1488-1576), the great Venetian artist of the Renaissance. Among them are “Danae”, “Penitent Mary Magdalene”, “Saint Sebastian”.
Danae

Penitent Mary Magdalene

Hall of Italian art of the 13th - early 15th centuries.

The reception room, like all the halls of the front suite of the Old (Great) Hermitage, was designed by A. Stackenschneider in 1851-1860. The hall is an excellent example of an interior from the historicist era. Columns of green jasper and pilasters decorated with paintings, gilded ornaments of the ceiling and desudéportes, doors decorated with porcelain medallions give the hall a special elegance. The hall displays works by Italian artists of the 13th - early 15th centuries, including “Cross with a Crucifixion” by Ugolino di Tedice, a panel of Simone Martini’s diptych “Madonna” from the “Annunciation” scene, “Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and St. John” by Nicolo Gerini .

Madonna from the Annunciation scene by Simone Martini

"Calvary" Ugolino Lorenzetti

Hall of Italian Art of the 16th century.

The hall was part of the outer enfilade of the Old (Great) Hermitage, designed by A. Stackenschneider in mid-19th century V. The interior decoration has not been preserved. During the restoration in 2003, the walls became painted to match the color of the damask with which the room was previously upholstered, according to archival data. Now the works of Venetian painters of the 16th century are presented here, such as Jacopa Palma the Elder, Lorenzo Lotto, Giovanni Battista Cima de Conegliano. Among the masterpieces of the museum's collection is the painting "Judith" by Giorgione (circa 1478-1510) - one of the few original works of the founder Venetian school.
Jacopo Palma the Elder - Madonna and Child with Customers

Giorgione - Judith

Hall of Leonardo da Vinci

The Double-Light Hall of the Old (Great) Hermitage presents masterpieces of the museum - two works the greatest master Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci - " Madonna Benoit", one of the few indisputable creations of the master, and "Madonna Litta". The decoration of the hall (architect A.I. Stackenschneider, 1858) combines light stucco with colored stone (porphyry and jasper columns, lapis lazuli inserts in marble fireplaces) and gilding. Hall decorated with picturesque panels and lampshades. The doors are decorated in the “boulle” style - with plates of tortoiseshell and gilded brass.

Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna with a Flower (Benois Madonna) (1478)

The most famous painting in the Hermitage. Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna and Child (Madonna Litta) (1490 - 1491)

Loggias of Raphael

Raphael's loggias are located in the Great Hermitage.
The prototype of the Loggias, built by order of Empress Catherine II in the 1780s. The architect G. Quarenghi designed the famous gallery of the Vatican Palace in Rome, painted according to the sketches of Raphael. Copies of the frescoes were made using the tempera technique by a group of artists under the direction of H. Unterberger. On the vaults of the gallery there is a cycle of paintings on biblical stories- the so-called "Raphael's Bible". The walls are decorated with grotesque ornaments, the motifs of which arose in Raphael’s paintings under the influence of paintings in the “grottoes” - the ruins of the “Golden House” (the palace of the ancient Roman emperor Nero, 1st century).

Small Hermitage

Northern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage. View from Palace Embankment.

Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage from Palace Square

Pavilion Hall

The pavilion hall of the Small Hermitage was created in the middle of the 19th century. A. I. Stackenschneider. The architect combined architectural motifs of antiquity, renaissance and the east in the interior design. The combination of light marble with gilded stucco decoration and the elegant shine of crystal chandeliers gives the interior a special effect. The hall is decorated with four marble fountains - variations of the “Fountain of Tears” of the Bakhchisarai Palace in Crimea. In the southern part of the hall, a mosaic is built into the floor - a copy of the floor found during excavations of ancient Roman baths. The hall displays the Peacock clock (J. Cox, 1770s), acquired by Catherine II, and a collection of mosaic works.

Eduard Petrovich Gau

Tutukin, Pyotr Vasilievich - Types of halls of the Winter Palace. Pavilion Hall

Kolb Alexander Khristoforovich - Types of halls of the Small Hermitage. Pavilion Hall

(in 1719-1723) and the house of G.P. Chernyshev, as well as the house of the court laundresses. The latter was adjacent to the Winter Palace of Peter I.

The first specialized premises for storing imperial collections were the galleries of the neighboring Small Hermitage. Soon these galleries became scarce. In May 1770, Catherine II ordered the construction of a new stone building “in line with the Hermitage” along Palace Embankment. It was erected from February 1771 over two years according to the design of J. M. Felten and under the direction of the stone mason Giovanni Geronimo Rusca. The work was completed in 1774. Then a new building 10 axes wide appeared on the banks of the Neva, which was connected to the northern pavilion of the Small Hermitage by a transition gallery. The new building occupied the former Kruys site.

After another two years, on the site of the dilapidated Chernyshev house and the house of the court laundresses, it was decided to continue the construction of a stone building, which now stretches all the way to the Winter Canal. The work, which began in mid-1777 and lasted two construction seasons, was carried out according to the project and under the guidance of the same specialists. The second part of the building received 17 axes along the facade. The common façade, combining two parts, was created in 1787. Later, an arch was built over the Winter Canal, connecting the Great Hermitage with the Hermitage Theater.

The decoration of the interiors of the Great Hermitage was carried out gradually, Catherine II discussed with Felten the design of each room.

Due to the existence of the Small Hermitage, the new building began to be called the Great Hermitage. After the appearance of the New Hermitage next door, this building began to be called the Old Hermitage. The palace art collection and library are located here. The interiors of the Great Hermitage were described by I. G. Georgi:

“A number of rooms on the banks of the Neva are decorated with the most exquisite taste, piece floors, ceilings with paintings, large rounded windows with mirrored glass, crystal chandeliers, silk curtains with tassels, rich fireplaces or stoves, doors with mirrors, mirrors, corner tables, rich clocks, chairs, sofas and the like. In all the rooms there are also paintings and rich vases, urns, groups, statues, busts of domestic heroes and other great persons, pillars and various artificial things of plaster, marble, jasper, jasper, emerald, crystal, porphyry and others. from other stones, also molded work, porcelain, bronze, carved wood, etc. Cabinets and cabinets in which gems and other jewelry are stored, watch machines, etc. are the most elegant work of Roentgen, Mayer and other glorious masters of this art" [Quoted . from: 2, p. 425, 426].

Most of the premises of the Great Hermitage were given over to housing collections. But some rooms were residential. There were a sofa room, a billiard room, a bedchamber and a restroom. The upper and lower floors housed the rooms of ladies-in-waiting and other people close to the court. The entrance to the building was from the Winter Canal.

Behind the building of the Great Hermitage there initially remained the old two-story buildings of the laundresses' house. In their place, in 1792, the architect D. Quarenghi built a new building of the Great Hermitage to house the Raphael Loggia. This loggia is an exact copy of the gallery of the Papal Palace in the Vatican. Only if in Rome it is open, then in St. Petersburg, due to the cold climate, the loggias on the side of the Winter Canal are closed with windows. In 1778, the Italian artist Christoph Unterberger, assisted by V. Peter, began making copies of drawings from Raphael’s loggias. They were led by one of the most famous archaeologists I.F. Reifenstein, who was a confidant of Catherine II. It was on his advice that Catherine II invited Giacomo Quarenghi to St. Petersburg.

Initially, Catherine II wanted to arrange only one section of the loggia. But N.B. Yusupov, who organized these works, convinced the Empress and the Pope of the need to copy the entire hall.

There are two entrances to the building. The one closest to the Small Hermitage is called “Soviet”. This name has nothing to do with the USSR. The entrance was used by members of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, which met in the building of the Great Hermitage from January 1, 1810 to 1870. The main staircase also began to be called "Soviet". The second entrance has a more modest name - "Small entrance".

Initially, court servants lived here; in the 19th century, the premises began to be used as storage facilities for collections. In 1852, by decree of Nicholas I, the New and Great Hermitages became open to the public. In 1860, a reconstruction of the interiors was carried out under the leadership of the architect A. I. Stackenschneider. He also arranged a metal “umbrella” with lanterns at the eastern entrance from the Neva.

The premises occupied by the State Council and the Committee of Ministers were returned to the Hermitage in 1885.

In 1899, the main rooms became living quarters.

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Books

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The majestic and beautiful Main Staircase of the Winter Palace played a very important representative role in the 18th century, being included in the suite of state halls where ceremonies and court celebrations took place. Along it, ambassadors of foreign states ascended to the central halls for audiences, which is why it was called the Posolskaya. After the revolution, when the palace became a museum, the guides gave it the name Jordanskaya, since on the feast of Epiphany the royal family and other participants in the procession of the cross descended along it, starting from the Great Church and going out to the Jordan - a special ice hole in the frozen Neva, where the ceremony of blessing of water was held.

This staircase is associated with the construction of the New Hermitage - a building created specifically as a museum for the expanded collections of art objects. It was built in 1850 by the architect N. E. Efimov under the direction of V. P. Stasov according to the design of L. von Klenze. The staircase became the main entrance to the New Hermitage building and was similar to the one that led to the Athenian Acropolis. Its entrance from the street is decorated with granite sculptures of ten Atlanteans, created by Academician A. I. Terebenev, hence the other name - Terebenev Staircase. If you look up at the staircase from the first floor landing, you will notice one interesting architectural solution: in each subsequent flight the number of steps is reduced by one, which creates the illusion of an endless road upward.

The first visitors to the museum climbed the Main Staircase of the New Hermitage. However, the museum was not public, intended for a wide range of visitors. Initially, in order to enter the Hermitage, a special permit was required, which was issued only to a select few. For example, the great poet A. S. Pushkin was able to obtain a permanent museum pass only on the recommendation of V. A. Zhukovsky, his teacher. Even famous Russian artists who needed to work in the halls could not always obtain such permission.

Nothing to do with Soviet Union this staircase does not. The Soviet staircase, built in the mid-19th century by the architect A. I. Stackenschneider, got its name due to the fact that members of the State Council passed through its entrance on their way to meetings chaired by the Tsar. The staircase is also unique in that it connects three buildings of the museum complex at once: it communicates with the Small Hermitage through a transition corridor, on the opposite side along the embankment line is the Old Hermitage, doors in the center (opposite the windows) lead to the halls of the New Hermitage.

October staircase

The name “October” staircase was given in memory of the revolutionary events of October 1917, when detachments of stormers entered the Winter Palace along it. On the night of October 25-26, 1917, the captured ministers of the Provisional Government were taken out along the October Stairs.

You can’t find the exact date of the appearance of this name in any guidebook, and the famous memorial plaque was installed on it after the new name took root. Before that, the staircase was called “Her Imperial Majesty”, since it adjoined directly the apartments of the empresses - the wife (later widow) of Paul I Maria Feodorovna and the wife of Alexander II Maria Alexandrovna.

Church stairs

The church staircase is located in close proximity to the Small Church of the Winter Palace, where services were held with the participation of members of the royal family. A few years ago, an amazing incident occurred in the Hermitage: during scheduled electrical work, a plaster sculpture walled into the wall was discovered on the second floor of the Church Staircase.

The sculpture depicts a slave in a collar and is called “The Fugitive Slave.” During the restoration of the find, it turned out that it was created by the famous sculptor Vladimir Beklemishev in late XIX century. And in 1893 she represented Russia at the World Exhibition in Chicago. How and why she ended up in “captivity” is unknown, but she spent more than 60 years there. There have not been such discoveries in the museum for more than a century.

Finding the right room in the Hermitage is an art, and even more difficult is being able to find a suitable staircase to move from floor to floor. We tell five stories about the central staircases of the Hermitage in order to better remember their names and skillfully use them in a conversation with the caretaker when planning a route.

Ambassadorial (Jordanian, Main) staircase

The majestic and beautiful Main Staircase of the Winter Palace played a very important representative role in the 18th century, being included in the suite of state halls where ceremonies and court celebrations took place. Along it, ambassadors of foreign states ascended to the central halls for audiences, which is why it was called the Posolskaya. After the revolution, when the palace became a museum, the guides gave it the name Jordanskaya, since on the feast of Epiphany the royal family and other participants in the procession of the cross descended along it, starting from the Great Church and going out to the Jordan - a special ice hole in the frozen Neva, where the ceremony of blessing of water was held.

The main staircase of the New Hermitage (Terebenevskaya staircase)

This staircase is associated with the construction of the New Hermitage, a building created specifically as a museum to house its expanding collections of art. It was built in 1850 by architect N.E. Efimov under the leadership of V.P. Stasov, designed by L. von Klenze. The staircase became the main entrance to the New Hermitage building and was similar to the one that led to the Athenian Acropolis. Its entrance from the street is decorated with granite sculptures of ten Atlanteans, created by Academician A.I. Terebenev, hence the other name - Terebenev Staircase. If you look up at the staircase from the first floor landing, you will notice one interesting architectural solution: in each subsequent flight the number of steps is reduced by one, which creates the illusion of an endless road upward.

The first visitors to the museum, which opened on February 7, 1852, climbed the Main Staircase of the New Hermitage.

The Hermitage opened to the public under Nicholas I only in 1852.
Under Catherine II, Paul I and Alexander I, the Hermitage was like a palace museum, where few people had access. DIn order to enter the Hermitage, a special permit was required, which was issued only to a select few. For example, the great poet A.S. Pushkin l just in 1832was able to obtain a permanent museum pass only on the recommendation of V.A. Zhukovsky, mentor to the emperor's children. Famous artists those who needed to work in the halls could not always obtain such permission.

Soviet staircase

This staircase has nothing to do with the Soviet Union. Soviet staircase, built in the mid-19th century by architect A.I. Stackenschneider, got its name due to the fact that members of the State Council passed through its entrance on their way to meetings chaired by the Tsar. The staircase is also unique in that it connects three buildings of the museum complex at once: it communicates with the Small Hermitage through a transition corridor, on the opposite side along the embankment line is the Old Hermitage, doors in the center (opposite the windows) lead to the halls of the New Hermitage.

October staircase

The name “October” staircase was given in memory of the revolutionary events of October 1917, when detachments of stormers entered the Winter Palace along it. On the night of October 25-26, 1917, the captured ministers of the Provisional Government were taken out along the October Stairs.

You can’t find the exact date of the appearance of this name in any guidebook, and the famous memorial plaque was installed on it after the new name took root. Before that, the staircase was called “Her Imperial Majesty”, since it adjoined directly the apartments of the empresses - the wife (later widow) of Paul I Maria Feodorovna and the wife of Alexander II Maria Alexandrovna.

Church stairs

The church staircase is located in close proximity to the Small Church of the Winter Palace, where services were held with the participation of members of the royal family. A few years ago, an amazing incident occurred in the Hermitage: during scheduled electrical work, a plaster sculpture walled into the wall was discovered on the second floor of the Church Staircase.

The sculpture depicts a slave and is called "White Slave". During the restoration of the find, it turned out that it was created by the famous sculptor Vladimir Beklemishev at the end of the 19th century. And in 1893 she represented Russia at the World Exhibition in Chicago. How and why she ended up in “captivity” is unknown, but she spent more than 60 years there. There have not been such discoveries in the museum for more than a century.

Source: fiesta city

Source https://vk.com/spb.welcome?w=wall-60191095_74818

About the grand staircases

Grand staircases - the main staircases leading to the main entrance of the palace. The main staircase is most often given a central place in the palace. This is a monumental structural element of the interior, enriched with finishing. For its production, elite, noble wood species, natural stone, and gold and silver finishing are used.

The majestic and beautiful Main Staircase of the Winter Palace (Embassy (Jordan)) - the main attraction of the northern capital. A beautiful and majestic interior, about which architecture connoisseur A.P. Bashutsky wrote that this staircase “is absolutely unique in Europe in terms of beauty of location and vastness.” It is she who is called upon to be the first to show that the palace is the imperial residence, that is, not only the place of residence of the head of state and the holding of various kinds of celebrations, but the “face of the country”: evidence of its power, wealth, and high culture.

Soviet staircase , the main entrance to the Old Hermitage building. The official decoration of the staircase is emphasized by the coat of arms Russian Empire, a double-headed eagle located at the level of the second floor landing under the imperial crown.
A white marble staircase was built on the site that was previously occupied by the oval hall. One of the surviving reminders of the early decoration of the hall is the picturesque painting of the ceiling, on the allegorical plot “The Virtues Present the Russian Youth to the Goddess Minerva”, executed by French artist eighteenth century, Gabriel-François Doyen. An outstanding element of the decoration of the Soviet staircase is a large malachite vase, made in Yekaterinburg using the Russian mosaic technique. The Soviet staircase is undoubtedly an architectural masterpiece of the State Hermitage

Main staircase of the New Hermitage (Terebenevskaya staircase) . This staircase was the main entrance to the New Hermitage building. Its entrance from the street is decorated with granite sculptures of ten Atlanteans, created by Academician A. I. Terebenev (1815 - 1859). The design of the staircase is in the spirit of late classicism - using elements of classical art, with its characteristic clarity, symmetry, and the predominance of clear and straight lines. A wide staircase of sixty-nine white marble steps is bordered on both sides by smooth, unadorned walls covered with an even, shiny layer of yellow stucco. His warm tone contrasts effectively with the cool gray tone of the porphyry monolithic columns rising in two parallel rows high above the walls of the staircase.