This room of the Old (Large) Hermitage with two tiers of windows contains two of the museum's masterpieces - two works by one of the greatest Renaissance masters - Leonardo da Vinci. The Benois Madonna, one of the artist's undisputed creations, and The Litta Madonna. When decorating the room in 1858, the architect Andrei Stakenschneider combined light-coloured stucco with colourful stone (porphyry and jasper columns, lapis-lazuli insets in the marble fireplaces) and gilding. The room is further adorned by painted panels and ceiling paintings. The doors are decorated in the Boulle technique with tortoiseshell veneer and gilded brass.
