This hall is situated in the building of the New Hermitage put up in 1851 to the design of Leo von Klenze for the Imperial Museum. According to the original plan the hall was to become the main vestibule. The hall has a vaulted ceiling decorated with stucco ornament and arched loggias. The walls made of stucco (artificial marble) serve as a background for the impressive white marble columns contributing to the spirit of grandeur dominating the interior. The magnificent example of Russian stone-carving - the huge Kolyvan vase seen in the centre of the hall - had been installed here before its walls were erected. The vase was made of Revnevo jasper to the design of the architect Abraham Melnikov in 1843 at the Kolyvan Lapidary Works in the Altai Mountains. It is 2.57 m high and weighs 19 tons. The hall displays the collection of works of art dating back to the age of Emperors Trajan and Hadrian (late 1st and 2nd centuries) and constituting a part of the wonderful collection of Roman sculptural portaiture.