This section represents the history of the Hermitage Museum that was
started in the 18th century as a private collection of
Empress Catherine II and in the 20th century became
one of the largest museums in the world. Click the
date on the chronological scale and you will
quickly get access to the information about the event
you are interested in.
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|
| 1754-1762 |
Construction of the Winter Palace commissioned
by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Architect Bartolommeo
Francesco Rastrelli
|
| 1762 |
Empress Catherine II's accession to
the throne
|
| 1764 |
Empress Catherine II purchases Johann
Ernest Gotzkowski's collection
|
| 1764-1775 |
Construction of the Small Hermitage
|
| 1769 |
Purchase of Count Heinrich von Brühl's collection
|
| 1771-1787 |
Construction of the Great Hermitage
|
| 1772 |
Purchase of Pierre Crozat's collection
|
| 1779 |
Purchase of the Walpole collection
|
| 1781 |
Purchase of Count Baudouin's collection
|
| 1783 |
Construction of the Hermitage Theatre
|
| 1787 |
Purchase of the John Lyde-Brown collection
|
| 1795 |
Creation of the St George Hall
|
| 1815 |
Purchase of Empress Josephine's collection
|
| 1825 |
Emperor Nicholas I's accession to the
throne
|
| 1826 |
Creation of the War Gallery of 1812
by Carlo Rossi
|
1830s-1840s
|
Finishing of the interiors designed
by Alexander Briullov
|
| 1833 |
Creation of the Fieldmarshals' and
Peter I's (Small Throne) Rooms by architect Auguste Montferrand
|
| 1837 |
Fire in the Winter Palace
|
| 1840 |
Reconstruction of the state halls of
the Winter Palace by Vasily Stasov following the fire
of 1837
|
| 1850 |
Purchase of the Cristoforo Barbarigo
collection
|
| 1852 |
Opening of the Imperial Museum of the
New Hermitage
|
| 1858 |
Construction of the Pavilion Hall by
architect Andrei Stakenschneider
|
| 1860 |
Creation of state rooms in the Large
Hermitage by architect Andrei Stakenschneider
|
| 1861 |
Purchase of the Marquis Giampietro
Campana collection
|
| 1865 |
Purchase of Leonardo da Vinci's
Madonna and Child (The Litta Madonna)
|
| 1870 |
Purchase of Raphael's Madonna and
Child (The Conestabile Madonna)
|
1884 |
Purchase of the Alexander Basilewski
collection
|
| 1885 |
Transfer to the Hermitage of the Imperial
Tsarskoye Selo Arsenal collection
|
| 1895 |
Emperor Nicholas II's accession to
the throne
|
| 1914 |
Purchase of Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna
and the Child (The Benois Madonna)
|
| 1914 |
Start of World War I. A hospital is
opened in state rooms of the Winter Palace
|
| 1917 |
The February Revolution and Emperor
Nicholas II's abdication
|
| 1917 |
The October Revolution removes the
Provisional Government
|
| 1917 |
The Winter Palace and the Hermitage
are declared state museums
|
| 1920 |
The Hermitage transfers 460 items to
the Central Museum of old Western art, Moscow
|
| 1920s-1930s |
Acquisition of items from nationalized
private collections
|
| 1932-1934 |
Sale of items from the Hermitage collections
and transfer of works of art to the USSR museums
|
| 1941 |
Start of the Great Patriotic War and
evacuation of the Hermitage collections to the
Urals
|
| 1945 |
Re-opening of the Museum after the
conclusion of World War II
|
| 1948 |
Acquisition of a collection of late
19th - early 20th century European paintings
|
| 1964 |
The 200th anniversary of the Hermitage
|
| 1967 |
First donation by Lydia Delectorskaya
of works by Matisse
|
| 1981 |
Opening of a museum in the Menshikov
Palace, a new branch of the State Hermitage
|
| 1992 |
Opening of the display "The Winter
Palace of Peter I" in the building of the
Hermitage Theatre
|
| 1995 |
The exhibition Hidden Treasures Revealed
|
| 1996 |
By decree of the Russian President
Boris Yeltsin of 12 June 1996, the State
Hermitage is placed under the direct patronage of
the President of the Russian Federation
|
| 1996 |
The official announcement of the creation
of the international Hermitage Friends Club
|
| 1997 |
The return of Rembrandt's Danaë to public viewing following restoration
work
|
| 1997 |
A small planet in the solar system,
No. 4758, is given the name Hermitage
|
| 1997 |
The beginning of the Hermitage - IBM
Project
|
| 1999 |
The transfer of the national flag of
the Russian Federation and of the standard of the
RF President to the State Hermitage
|
| 1999 |
The opening of exhibitions in a new
museum building : the Eastern Wing of the General
Staff building
|
| 1999 |
The presentation of the "Great
Hermitage" programme
|
| 2000 |
The opening of the Hermitage Rooms
in Somerset House (London)
|
| 2001 |
The "Russian Ark" project
of the State Hermitage and Alexander Sokurov
|
| 2001 |
The opening of the Hermitage-Guggenheim
exhibition centre in Las Vegas, USA
|
| 2002 |
The transfer of Kasimir Malevich's
painting Black Square to the State Hermitage
|
| 2003 |
The creation of the State Hermitage's
Board of Trustees
|
| 2003 |
The opening of the Great Courtyard
of the Winter Palace and the new entrance to the State
Hermitage from Palace Square
|
| 2003 |
The inauguration of the Museum of Porcelain.
The Lomonosov Porcelain Factory
|
| 2003 |
The inauguration of the Museum of
the Guards in the General Staff building
|
| 2004 |
The opening of the Hermitage-Amsterdam
exhibition complex in the Netherlands
|
| 2005 |
The îpening of the Hermitage-Kazan
Exhibition Centre
|
| 2006 |
The Year of Rembrandt in the State
Hermitage
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