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A Treasury of World Art On 4 November 1945 the museum reopened to the public. The entrance was organized from Palace Embankment by way of the Jordan Staircase. In the post-war years the facades of the Winter Palace acquired their present three-tone colour scheme with green walls, white columns and "bronze" decorative elements. In the 1970s and 1980s the garden opposite the Admiralty was redesigned and the fountain there restored. Throughout the history of the museum, the Great Courtyard remained inaccessible for visitors. They could do not more than admire the garden from the windows of the palace. Three sculptures - Amphitrite, a Medici Venus and an Archer - were hidden in the shade of enormous trees. In 2003, during the St Petersburg Tercentennial celebrations, a new main entrance to the Hermitage by way of the Great Courtyard of the Winter Palace was opened. Today visitors enter the museum from Palace Square, through the three arches in the southern facade of the palace that are adorned by magnificent restored gates. The garden situated in the centre of the courtyard has been reconstructed. The great courtyard has become an organic part of the "museum space". It is the first thing that visitors see and also the setting for concerts and theatrical performances. 2005 is the 250th anniversary of Empress Elizabeth's signing of the decree on the construction of the Winter Palace. The majestic building remains the dominant element in the splendid architectural ensemble of the Hermitage and an adornment of St Petersburg. |
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Copyright © 2011 State Hermitage Museum |
