Hermitage Days in 2001

It has become a tradition to celebrate Hermitage Days on 7-9 December. It is not by chance that this date was chosen for the celebration. 7 December is the Day of St. Catherine whose name was born by Empress Catherine the Great who founded the Hermitage. 9 December is the Day of St. George, patron of the Russian state.

On 7 December took place the traditional official gathering of the museum's staff. Director Mikhail B. Piotrovsky spoke at the gathering saying that the Hermitage is one of the most dynamic museums of the world. He described the museum's results in the current year and what 2002 would bring of new. Then Mikhail B. Piotrovsky held a press conference dedicated to the 2001Hermitage Days. Museum staff and journalists were the first to see the exhibition The Hermitage in the World of Publications in 2001.

The same day the Augustus Hall with a new exhibition of the art of Ancient Rome of the 1st century BC - 1st century AD was officially opened. On 7 December the Internet Center was showed to the public in the Rastrelli Gallery (ground floor of the Winter Palace) equipped with 24 computers with high-speed Internet access.

On 8 December the British Art Rooms were opened after restoration. The new exhibition shows some 200 objects amply representing English art of the 16th to 19th centuries.

On 8 December at the museum took place the Hermitage Friends' Day. Special program was prepared for members of the International Hermitage Friends' Club. Members of the Club were showed the Augustus Hall, recently opened to the public, and the Rubens and Snyders Rooms, currently under restoration. They also visited the Internet Center. Members of the Club had a meeting with Director Mikhail B. Piotrovsky in the Hermitage Theater. The same day sponsors of the State Hermitage Museum were officially commended and awarded medals. The Hermitage Friends' Day finished with a concert of the St. Petersburg Camerata Orchestra.

On the Day of St. George, 9 December, the St. George (Big Throne) Hall of the Winter Palace hosted the ceremony of conferring official awards of the Russian Federation to the State Hermitage Museum's staff. Medals of the order Service to the Nation degree II were awarded to Svetlana N. Vsevolozhskaya, Senior Researcher of the West European Art Department, Magdalina A. Dobrovolskaya, Senior Researcher of the Numismatics Department, Galina A. Printseva, Chief Researcher of the Russian Art Department, and Valentina S. Shandrovskaya, Chief Researcher of the Eastern Culture and Art Department.

The Admiralty Orchestra of the Leningrad Naval Base conducted by Capt. Aleksey Karabanov took part in the event.

On 9 December the Hermitage Theater hosted the new concert program Dances in the Moonlight which opened the 2nd International Admiralty Music Festival.

Mikhail B. Piotrovsky, Director of the Hermitage, speaking to the museum’s staff

Augustus Hall

British Art Rooms

Award ceremony

Administration congratulating staff on their awards