The 1812 War Gallery Opens after Restoration

To mark the 300th Anniversary of St. Petersburg, on 26 May, 2003, in the Winter Palaces was opened after restoration the 1812 War Gallery, a magnificent monument to Russia’s military glory. Designed by Carlo Rossi, the Gallery houses portraits of generals who took part in the Patriotic War of 1812-14. All the portraits were rescued in 1837, when the Winter Palace was gutted by a major fire. Architect Vasily Stasov, who restored the interiors, made the Gallery 12 meters longer and added a balcony.

In 1998-2003, the Gallery was fully restored by the Hermitage Architecture History and Restoration Department, including the roof, bay windows, grisaille pictures on the vaults, artificial marble and parquet.

Restorers made wall and ceiling painting as close to Stasov’s design as possible. The Gallery now has a system of combined lighting. Lost lampions have been restored, and the exhibits are now lit evenly, because the so-called “enforced lighting” is no longer used. Special light-reflecting shafts, designed by the Stroyfizika Institute (Moscow), have been installed by the company MESI under the lower line of lamps.

The works were performed by the Hermitage Restoration Studios headed by N.I. Trubnikov, and directed by V.V. Yefimov, Deputy Senior Architect of the Hermitage.

Paintings from the 1812 War Gallery Restored

In 2002, in connection with the reconstruction of the 1812 War Gallery, the Laboratory of Easel Painting Restoration (Director R.T. Grunina) carried out a unique project, restoring 332 half-length portraits created for the Gallery by G. Dawe and his assistants V.A. Golike and A.V. Polyakov and seven paintings including full-length portraits of the famed generals M.I. Kutuzov and B. de Tolly by G. Dawe and the portrait of Russian Emperor Alexander I on horseback by F. Krueger. All Laboratory staff took part in this project.

The task was complicated, because despite the apparently uniform technique and style, and similar damage, the generals’ portraits from the 1812 War Gallery were individual and each of them required a specific treatment.

Especially difficult proved the restoration of the portraits of M.I. Kutuzov (restorers A.A. Osetrov and V.A. Khudyakov) and Alexander I (restorers A.V. Kuznetsov, A.N. Smirnov and V.V. Shatsky).

The 1812 War Gallery Opens after Restoration

Paintings from the 1812 War Gallery Restored