Hermitage Masterpieces

In 1763, Catherine the Great ordered an addition to St. Petersburg, Russia's Winter Palace. Catherine called the Neo-Classical construction her "Hermitage". Over 250 years and several building expansions later, these impressive buildings house over three million pieces of art and the museum is considered one of the best and most important in the world.

The Hermitage is home to all manner of sculpture. This episode features Rococo-style porcelain and relief works; Renaissance era sculpture that borrowed mythical animal motifs from the ancients; and marble Neo-Classical sculptures, whose creators were inspired by art uncovered during the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the mid 18th Century.

It was Catherine the Great who assembled the heart of the Hermitage's painting collection. The Hermitage boasts an unrivalled collection of paintings: Rembrandt's portraits, Nicholas Poussin's grandiose narrative paintings, Pissaro's urban landscapes, Dutch still lifes, and Jan Steen's genre painting, to name but a few.

A look at the decorative works collected in the Hermitage Museum: furnishings, tapestries, pottery, porcelains, and silver. We are shown examples from several periods and areas: the Italian Renaissance, Spanish Majolica, Venetian glassware, Baroque ornamentation, Rococo cabinets and the Neo-Classical style.

A look at the Hermitage's collection of art and artefacts from India, China, and Mesopotamia. All these pieces are of great value to scholars who continue to be fascinated by the ideals, dreams, and beliefs of these civilizations.

An examination of how Peter the Great transformed a little-used territory of Swedish swampland into the bustling City of St. Petersburg, home to the Hermitage Museum. The story of Peter's rule and legacy, the awakening of the Russian imagination, is depicted in detail in reliefs by Rastrelli, and etchings by Alexi Zubov.

Catherine the Great acquired the first Egyptian relics for the Hermitage, now home to a comprehensive collection of nearly 10,000 pieces, some dating as far back as 4,000 B.C.

Democracy, logic, mathematics, science, and philosophy were all invented by the Greeks. Their influence on Western Civilization cannot be overstated. Their art, depicting ideal love and beauty, continues to fascinate. Many of the pieces in the Hermitage, never before seen outside of Russia, are shown and discussed in detail in this episode.

The Hermitage boasts an extensive collection of Middle Age art, spanning ten centuries, from the 5th to the 15th. This episode examines the Romanesque statues of the period, and shows some of the ornate liturgical objects used in the church. Though less prevalent during this period, there are also examples of secular art, such as a bronze statuette of a knight hunting, and armour from the time.

Discover the age of the powerful Medici family, the "Golden Age" of Florence and the innovative paintings of artist like Fra Angelico, Simone Martini and Fra Filippo Lippi.

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and the glittering array of Venetian painters produced works of miraculous originality and power. This brief period marks one of the highest peaks of the human spirit and artistic genius, and the collection of these works which you will see in the Hermitage is among the finest in the world.

Trace the emergence of realism in the Netherlands as the elegant, aristocratic "International Style" gave way to dramatic light and brilliant color. A fresh, humanistic approach to painting was born, characterized by a new interest in portraiture and landscapes.

The collection of Flemish and Dutch works housed in the Hermitage is now known around the world for its size and quality. Entrenched in Catholicism, these 17th century artists, such as Rubens and Van Dyck, painted in what became known as a Flemish Baroque style, which was extroverted and dynamic, inspired by heroic images from the antique age.

So vast is the Dutch collection of the Hermitage that one could trace this art's history solely from the works therein. The 17th Century saw a decline in patronage of the arts by church and state. Private collectors filled the void, and subject matter was changed to suit the new patrons who wanted portraits, landscapes, still-lifes, and genre paintings for their homes. We are also shown a selection of Rembrandt's work, outlining his movement towards a more Classical style.

This episode examines the beginnings of Spanish Baroque painting. Religious paintings of the late 15th and early 16th centuries tackled questions of justice while the Inquisition went on around the artists. Some artists blossomed under Church patronage, others were persecuted as heretics. This episode shows works from artists such as Luis Morales, El Greco and Jose de Riebera.

Only because of Catherine the Great's desire to emulate the French Court was the Hermitage built as it was. As it stands now, it houses an unparalleled collection of 16th and 17th century French Classical works, with artists drawing on Greek and Roman myths for inspiration. At the end of the 18th century, we see the emergence of Romanticism, paintings stressing the awesome power and grandeur of nature.

It surprises some to discover that there are many Impressionist and Post Impressionist works in the Hermitage Museum by acknowledged masters such as Monet, Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Gauguin. This program covers the era from The Arts/Visual Arts French Academy Classical Style to the works of the Impressionists.

At the dawn of the 20th century, the Impressionists were considered passé. In a critic at an exhibition in Paris described being amongst the pictures was as being amongst wild animals ("bêtes fauves" in French). The term Fauvism was born. In the Hermitage are works by André Derian, Kees van Dongen, and Henri Matisse.