The Treasure Gallery

On 18 May, 2002, the Jewelry Gallery, formerly known as Special Storeroom No. 1, reopened after a long time.
The basic idea of the new exhibition is to show the progress of the jeweler's art over the course of many centuries of mankind's history, from the 3rd millenium BC to the early 20th century AD. The section of golden- and silverware from the North Caucasus of the early bronze age shows the oldest jewelry unearthed in Russia: from the Maikop barrow, Staromyshatovsky treasure and stanitsa Novosvobodnaya. Byzantine and post-Byzantine applied arts of the 6th-18th centuries and West European applied arts of the Middle Ages are for the first time given their own shares in the exhibition. Masterpieces of Gothic jewelry are the Freiburg Cross (13th century) and reliquary in the form of the figure of the dean St. Stephen (France, late 12th century). The Jewelry Gallery of the Imperial Hermitage lies at the foundation of the traditional section showing works from the 18th - early 20th centuries. Russian jewelry in the exhibit includes the Kunnersdorf Cross (18th century). Snuff-boxes made by European masters in various decorative styles date from the 18th and 19th centuries. The exhibition shows the St. Petersburg school of jewelry. Especially fully represented are St. Petersburg jewelers of the second half of the 18th century (Jean-Pierre Ador, Johann Gottlieb Scharf, Jean-Francois-Xavier Boudder).
The 19th - early 20th centuries section shows works of Rene-Jules Lalique and the atelier of Carl Faberge.
Gifts of diplomats to the Russian Imperial Family are showed together.
Large-scale reconstruction of the Special Storeroom and its equipment has been undertaken. Alongside the historical showcases from the 19th centuries new vitrines are installed.
The Jewelry Gallery will be opened to the general public from the end of May 2002.

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Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky at the opening of the exhibition

At the exhibition