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 | | Portico of the Imperial Museum with the figures of granite atlantes Full size image | | |  | | Decorative sculpture on the façades of the building Full size image | | | 
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Premazzi produced this exterior view of the New Hermitage in 1861
after the completion of all the work on the set. The Imperial Museum
is placed centrally in this watercolour. Its main façade
runs along Millionaya Street and is emphasized by a portico supported
by ten magnificent atlantes, carved in grey granite by Alexander
Terebenev. Visible behind the new museum building are the Small
Hermitage and the Winter Palace.
The artist has placed his depiction of the New Hermitage in a real-life
cityscape executed in the manner of Italian vedute. He introduces
into the composition the figures of citizens out for a stroll on
a pleasant day, like the carriages, coaches and carts rattling over
the cobbled roadway, they bring a lively breath of spring to the
view of the street. The bright, warm, resonant range of colours,
founded on contrasts, fills the artist's work with abundant sunshine.
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