1787: Purchase of the John Lyde-Brown collection, London

Catherine II acquired the collection of John Lyde-Brown in 1787. It was later to form the nucleus of the Hermitage collection of antique sculpture. John Lyde-Brown, a Director of the Bank of England and member of London's Society of Antiquarians, formed his collection over 40 years. The entire collection (over 300 items) was transferred to Tsarskoye Selo and used to decorate the Grotto in the Park and Empress's private rooms in the Catherine Palace. Several reliefs and marble tombstones were accommodated in the Park in the pyramid used as a burial vault for Catherine II's lapdogs. The most valuable items of the Lyde-Brown collection are a number of Roman sculptural portraits and one early Greek sculpture.

Bust of the Emperor Lucius Verus
Ancient Rome. Third quarter of the 2nd century
Image in the Digital collection

Portrait of Cornelia Salonina
Ancient Rome. Mid-3rd century
Image in the Digital collection

Model for an Equestrtan Statue of Louis XIV
Girardon, Francois
Image in the Digital collection