The Hall of Graeco-Etruscan Vases
Constantine Ukhtomsky
1853
Watercolour
Ancient Italy Art and Culture of the 8th - 2nd century BC
Hall 130
Photo 2022
The Hall of Graeco-Etruscan Vases that completes the western enfilade in the New Hermitage was designed in the form of an ancient temple with two rows of grey granite columns. The walls, as well as the frieze and the coffered ceiling, are covered with painting inspired by the decoration of ancient pottery. The museum's only mosaic floor, embellished with the acanthus ornament and a meander pattern, was made at the Peterhof Lapidary Works. The display cases containing the vases were made of birch and decorated with amaranth strips and carving.
The ancient vases kept in this hall (about 1,300 items) provide a picture of the different centres of ceramic production in Greece and Italy. A large portion of the works came from the collection of the Roman antiquary Pizzati. When it arrived from Rome in 1834, this collection was first installed in the Imperial Academy of Arts where it was studied by a specially-created commission chaired by the president, Count Alexei Olenin.