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 Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-1771)
|
| 1762 |
Empress Catherine II's accession to
the Throne
|
| 1764 |
Empress Catherine II purchases Johann
Ernest Gotzkowski's collection, the first collection of the Museum
|
| 1764-1775 |
Construction of the Small Hermitage
|
| 1769 |
Purchase of Count Heinrich von Bruhl's
collection
|
| 1771-1787 |
Construction of the Great Hermitage
|
| 1772 |
Purchase of Baron 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,
London
|
| 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 Military Gallery of
1812 by Carlo Rossi
|
| 1830-1840 |
Finishing of the interiors designed
by Alexander Bryulov
|
| 1833 |
Creation of the Fieldmarshals' Hall
and Peter I's Room (Small Throne Room) 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 Gian Pietro
Campana collection
|
| 1865 |
Purchase of Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna
and Child (Litta Madonna)
|
| 1870 |
Purchase of Raphael’s Madonna and
Child (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
with a Flower (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 Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
|
| 1920-1930 |
Acquisition of items from nationalized
private collections
|
| 1932-1934 |
Sale of Hermitage collections and transfer
of works of art to museums of the Union Republics of the USSR
|
| 1941 |
Start of World War II 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 from the former collections
of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov
|
| 1964 |
The 200th anniversary of the Hermitage
|
| 1967 |
First donation by L.N. Delektorskaya
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 Russian President Boris
Yeltsin, 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 Danae
to public viewing following restoration work
|
| 1997 |
A small planet in the solar system,
¹4758, 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 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 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
|
| 2007 |
The Opening of the Hermitage-Italy
Centre in Ferrara
|
| 2008 |
The Beginning of a Project Entitled
The Restoration of the Eastern Wing of the General Staff Building
|
| 2009 |
The opening of the Hermitage-Amsterdam
Centre in the Amstelhof Building, Amsterdam
|
| 2009 |
The transfer of the Alexander Column
Monument to the Operational Management of the State Hermitage Museum
|
| 2009 |
The Acquisition of a Collection of
19th Century Graphic Art and 18th Century Porcelain from the Galerie
Popoff
|
| 2010 |
The Opening of the Hermitage-Vyborg
Exhibition Centre in Vyborg
|
| 2010 |
Completion of first phase restoration
of the eastern wing of the General Staff Building
|
| 2011 |
100 years of the Hermitage Garage
|
| 2011 |
Prado exhibition at the Hermitage
|
| 2011 |
Mikhail Lomonosov and the time of Elizabeth
I exhibition
|
| 2011 |
February, 25, 2011 Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev signed a Decree "On Celebration of the 250thanniversary
of the State Hermitage Museum foundation"
|
| 2011 |
Antony Gormley. Still standing. Antique
and contemporary sculpture
|
| 2011 |
The Organizing Committee on preparation
and holding of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the State
Hermitage Museum foundation is set up
|
| 2011 |
Presentation after restoration of the
painting by Cima da Conegliano. Annunciation
|
| 2011 |
Liberation of
"Fugitive slave". Restoration of sculpture group by V.A. Beklemishev
|
| 2011 |
300 years from the date of founding
of the Menshikov Palace and 30 years creation of exposition in it
"Culture of Russia of the first third of the 18th century"
|
| 2011 |
Exhibition of Herculaneum Antiquities
is the first exhibition in the new museum complex of the Hermitage
in the General Staff Building
|
| 2011 |
A new permanent exhibition of the "Museum
of the Imperial Porcelain Factory" Department "Porcelain
of the Soviet and New Period"
|
| 2012 |
Presentation after restoration of the
painting by Titian "The Flight into Egypt"
|
| 2012 |
Acquisition of George Machere and Nadya
Volkonskaya's collection
|
| 2012 |
Exhibition: "Santiago Calatrava.
In Search of Motion"
|
| 2012 |
Draft program "The Hermitage 20/21"
in year 2012
|
| 2012 |
Celebration of the 200th anniversary
of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812
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