The Hall of Dionysus in the New Hermitage built by Leo von Klenze for the Imperial Museum in 1851, was originally intended for displaying the collection of ancient sculpture. The walls are trimmed with dark red stucco (artificial marble) which is a perfect background for the white marble sculpture. The coffered ceiling is decorated with fine plant ornaments. On display are items of Roman decorative statuary, mostly copies from Greek originals, pieces which once adorned gardens, libraries, galleries and porticoes. The hall owes its name to the big statue of Dionysus (late 4th century BC) that was a part of Catherine the Great's collection of sculpture at Tsarskoye Selo. Of special interest are the statues of silenus Marsyas (second half of the 3rd century BC) and of Aphrodite - the so-called Venus of Taurida (2nd century). This is a Roman copy from the Hellenistic sculpture that was in turn modelled on the famous Aphrodite of Cnidus created by Praxiteles in the 4th century BC