This is one of the three huge grand interiors in the New Hermitage that are lit from above. This fact gave the rooms their name. They were intended for the display of large canvases. This one contains a display of 17th- and 18th-century Italian painting in which visitors can see the works of such celebrated artists as Luca Giordano, Giovanni Battista Crespi, Canaletto, Francesco Guardi and Tiepolo. The vaults of the room are decorated with moulded ornament in which Renaissance motifs predominate. Here, as in other rooms of the New Hermitage, there is furniture created in the 19th century to the designs of Klenze and Montferrand. The room is also adorned by the works of 19th-century Russian stonecutters.
