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The Great Hermitage was built in 1771-87 to the order of Catherine II and was intended to house the palace art collections and library. Yury Velten designed the three-storey building in such a way that it naturally completed the existing palace ensemble. The strictness and simplicity of the appearance of the Great Hermitge reflected the spirit of 18th-century Classicism. The facade combines rhythms of horizontal articulation and vertical window openings. In 1792 Giacomo Quarengi added a new wing to the Great Hermitage to house the Raphael Loggias - a very close replica of the famous gallery in the papal palace in the Vatican. A passage connected the new building with the Northern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage, while an arch over the Winter Canal connected it with the Hermitage Theatre.