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This is one of the two side galleries flanking the Hanging
Garden of the Small Hermitage (architects Jean Baptiste Vallin de
la Mothe and Yuri Velten, 1764-75) and originally designed to accommodate
the collections of Catherine the Great. After the reconstruction of
the building by the architects Vasily Stasov and Nikolai Yefimov in
1840-44 the gallery housed the collection of portraits depicting the
members of the Romanov dynasty and thus became known as the "Romanov
Gallery". The interior is notable for its austere decor; its small
false cupolas and barrel vaults are embellished with ornamental moulding.
The pendentive under the cupolas bears medallions portraying celebrated
artists, sculptors and scientists. The exhibition arranged in the
gallery features the Netherlandish art of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Of particular interest are the triptych The Healing of the Blind Man
of Jericho by Lucas van Leyden (1531), two group portraits (1532 and
1561) by Dirk Jacobsz, The Descent from the Cross (c. 1520) by Jan
Gossaert, The Penitent St. Jerome (1543) by Jan Sanders van Hemessen,
works by Frans Floris and by the Masters of the Female Half-Lengths.
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