Presentation of a Watercolor Painting by Giacomo Quarenghi The Gates of Narva. Main faςade.

On 31 December 2005 a one-day exhibition opens in the State Hermitage to present The Gates of Narva. Main faςade (1814, India ink, water color) by the outstanding architect and brilliant water color artist Giacomo Quarenghi. The work was purchased in Germany especially for the Hermitage by Alexei Petrovich Kalinichenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Company of Traders (UTG) and publisher of the magazine Patron of the Arts and Sciences MECENAT.

Several years ago the museum established the fine tradition of showing to the public on the last day of the year one of the most valuable works given to the Hermitage in the year gone by. It all began on 31 December 2002 with the showing of a classical work of contemporary French art donated by the artist Pierre Soulages: Painting, 220 x 324 cm, 19 January 1995 . In 2003 the museum put on public display a golden perfume vial dating from the 1st - 3rd century which had been donated by the All-Russian Jewish Congress and a golden pendant with diamonds which was donated by Mrs. Mairen Ivy (USA). Last year the exhibition featured a portrait of Napoleon I by the well-known French miniaturist J.-B. Isabet; this had been donated to the museum by E. Ya. Satanovky.

Giacomo Quarenghi left behind a huge legacy of graphic art, much of which is found in the State Hermitage's Department of Western European Art. His drawings and water color paintings appear from time to time at major auctions around the world and always are sold at very high prices.

The water color entitled The Gates of Narva. Main faςade is valuable both for the fact that it was drawn by Giacomo Quarenghi and due to the fact that the structure it depicts no longer exists.

In 1814, Triumphal Gates designed by Quarenghi were erected at the Narva post on the edge of St Petersburg in honor of the victory over Napoleon. It was through these Gates that the Guard Regiments returning from France would solemnly pass on their way into the Russian capital. On the reverse side of the water color painting there is an inscription in Russian, French and Latin naming the regiments.

With the passage of time, the gates, which were built of materials that do not last, became decrepit and permission was given to replace them. A new arch designed by V.P. Stasov was erected on the site in 1834.

The Gates of Narva. Main faςade
Giacomo Quarenghi
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