The Hermitage Collections in brief

There are 6 departments in the Hermitage.

The Antiquities Department (Art and Culture of the Classical antiquity and Ancient Egypt) contains a collection of monuments of the culture and art of Ancient Greece and Rome. We can see here the Roman sculptures and remarkable statue of the goddess of love and beauty the Venus of Taurida (3d century B.C.). The famous Gonzaga Cameo was executed in Alexandria in the 3d century B.C. The cameo is carved on a piece of sardonyx. It bears two profiles of the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his wife.

The department of Western European Art represents a collection of world famous paintings, sculptures, engravings, drawings and objects of applied art. Masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, El Greco, Anthony van Dyck and other great artists are there.

French paintings and sculptures of the 15-20 th centuries occupy 2 floors. Here are works of Nicolas Poussin, Jean-Baptiste Simeon Chardin, Antoine Watteau, Jean Honore Fragonard, Falconet, a fine impressionist collection from Claude Monet to Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, and finally Pablo Picasso.

In the Hermitage we can find the pictures of 2 great English artists: Joshua Reynolds & Thomas Gainsborough.

Numerous old tapestries, china, collections of rare coins, jewelry and handcrafts are on display in the Hermitage.

The Department of the History of Primitive Culture (Prehistoric art and culture) shows the development of primitive cultures on the territory of the former USSR from the beginning of the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) to the formation of the 1st stages.

The Oriental Department (Oriental Art and Culture) was founded in 1920. The largest exhibition is the Culture and art of the peoples of Central Asia.