The Hermitage
Great Masters of European Art 14th-19th Centuries
The Hermitage is one of the most famous universal museums in the world. Its stocks number more than 3,000,000 exhibits: over 16,000 first-rate works of painting, 12,000 pieces of sculpture, almost 300,000 objects of applied art, more than 1,000,000 coins, medals and order badges, and also weapons, banners, scientific instruments and machines, books ... Unique works of art, representing all strata of world culture, coexist naturally in the historic interiors that are monuments of architecture and of Russia's past. The founder of the Hermitage - Empress Catherine II - had a reputation as one of the most lavish collectors in Europe and she acquired at auctions priceless works by great Western European artists. Foreign travellers who visited the Hermitage described with raptures the palaces and artistic treasures of the "Russian Semiramis". From that time on the Hermitage's extremely rich collections, among which the masterpieces of old European masters occupy a special place, have never ceased to attract the attention of art-lovers from all corners of the globe.
