On 23 June 2005 members of the Board of Directors of Crédit Agricole visited the Halls of French Art of the 16th-17th and 19th-20th centuries which have been reopened to the public following restoration work. The company’s senior managers saw the results of one of the largest-scale projects that was undertaken in 2004.

One year ago, on 26 June 2004 an Agreement on a Financial Contribution was signed between the State Hermitage and the French companies Crédit Agricole S.A. and the Caisse des dépôts et consignations according to which sponsorship money was made available for the restoration of 18 rooms located on the first and second floors of the Winter Palace where French art of the 16th -18th and 19th -20th centuries is presented.

The repair and restoration work resulted in:
Installation of new electrical wiring and new systems of lighting, communications and alarms
Cleaning of the moldings and painting on the ceilings, restoration of the artificial and natural marble, repair of panels on the doors and of the oak window frames
Changing the system of illuminating the halls: the restored chandeliers are supplemented by lamps for spot lighting along the walls
Creation of a unified ventilation system in the rooms on the second floor
Installation of a new indirect lighting system
Reproduction of the original look of windows, with small window panes
Restoration work has been carried out on the parquet floors
Introduction of a new system of fastening labels of paintings to the walls using moveable brackets on metal rails.

The repair and restoration work was performed by four subcontractor organizations: the Special Production Workshops of the State Hermitage, OOO Beta Kom, OOO Lyumir and OOO Vozrozhdenie Peterburga. The State Hermitage’s Department of Major Construction and Department of the History and Restoration of Architectural Monuments exercised architectural and methodological oversight throughout the work.

At the festive ceremony in the Alexander Hall

René Carron, Président Crédit Agricole

Top managers of Crédit Agricole and Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky in the Matisse Hall