Hermitage Museum. What used to be in the Hermitage? State Hermitage(1)history

The Hermitage was robbed of its own: museum "werewolves" carried away works of art worth more than 130 million rubles

Sergey Andreev
Photo by Zamir Usmanov, Andrey Kulgun

The buzzword "werewolf" took on another meaning last week. The grandiose theft of 221 exhibits from the funds of the main museum of the country is blamed not on criminals from the street, but on the museum employees themselves. The director of the Hermitage, Mikhail Piotrovsky, stunned by the incident, said that the principle of “the presumption of innocence of museum employees” no longer applies. If earlier it was believed that a museum worker under no circumstances could harm his own repository, now the opposite is being asserted. Almost all the missing exhibits are monuments of jewelry and icon art of the 15th-19th centuries. In the hands of thieves were 107 icons, 10 reliquary crosses, 8 silver chalices, Easter eggs workshop of Carl Faberge, silverware, desktop figurines of animals made of precious materials, cigarette cases made of silver and gold, watches studded precious stones, photo frames, a powder box that belonged to one of Russian empresses, and her mirror in a silver frame.

The ill-fated vault has already been repeatedly examined by high-ranking officials of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg, including representatives of the ninth, so-called "antique" department, as well as specialists from Moscow. So far, neither one nor the other has been able to achieve any results. Alexander Khozhainov, head of the Hermitage museum security service, said that the main goal of the search group was to try to at least accurately determine the date of the theft. Most of missing exhibits were exhibited extremely rarely. For example, some of the missing items in last time exhibited in 2000. At the same time, among the stolen rarities there are those that the Hermitage employees saw and held in their hands 30 or more years ago. Neither Khozhainov nor Mikhail Piotrovsky rule out that the items could have been stolen more than once. The crime could drag on for decades.

But that's not all that is striking in this story. It turns out that the museum workers themselves learned that the most valuable exhibits had gone to no one knows where else ... last autumn. The custodian responsible for the missing exhibits died at the workplace. Both the employees of the Hermitage press service and the head of the museum security service refused to give the name of the deceased curator, referring to the secrecy of the investigation. Find it out and find out what's on this moment the deceased is the main suspect in the theft, managed only by police officers who wished to remain incognito.

IN total 46-year-old Larisa Alekseevna Zavadskaya worked in the Hermitage for about 30 years. For the last 15 years she has been a senior researcher at the Department of the History of Russian Culture - the custodian of the fund jewelry. She is long time cooperated with the FSB. In mid-October last year, Zavadskaya, the person who was the last to hold the missing exhibits in her hands and personally cataloged them, died right at her workplace. At the end of the day, Larisa Alekseevna began to get ready to go home, called her husband, and said that she was leaving in 15 minutes. Then the woman sat down at the computer and after a few moments buried herself in the keyboard. According to the paramedics, she died instantly. official reason death - a blood clot in the heart.

By strange coincidence, it was during these October days that the issue of transferring the exhibits of the Russian department of the Hermitage to other, younger curators was decided. If the museum management had no complaints about Larisa Zavadskaya, then the age of her partner (76 years old) was embarrassing. Then it turned out that some items in the collection were missing. The scale of the loss became known only after the death of Larisa Zavadskaya, but even here the museum management was in no hurry to sound the alarm. “The fact that some exhibit is not on the shelf does not mean that it has disappeared,” Mikhail Piotrovsky explained to reporters. - A unit of storage can end up in another fund, because we have more than three million exhibits, to restorers or to a photo lab. Only at the end of the total inventory did we draw up an appropriate act and report where to go.” Only three people, including the late Zavadskaya, had access to the funds where the missing exhibits were kept.

“This is a stab in the back of the Hermitage and the entire museum community,” laments Mikhail Piotrovsky. “And evidence of the deep imperfection of the storage system, built on the presumption of innocence of museum workers.”

The maximum salary of a museum curator is 15,000 rubles. Any of the employees who hardly fit even into the concept of the “middle class” could provide for themselves, and at the same time for their grandchildren, a comfortable old age by pocketing any, even the smallest little thing. It will not be difficult to take it out of the Hermitage. Museum employees are not only not searched, but they are not even forced to pass through a metal detector frame.

The grandiose theft came as a shock to everyone, the museum management thought about new means of ensuring security, up to applying isotope labels to the exhibits. Law enforcement officers are struggling with the question of where the rarities could have gone. Versions are varied - from export abroad (the list and photos of the stolen valuables were transferred to Interpol) to the one according to which all the things were hidden by a thief in the Hermitage itself and will be taken out after the noise subsides.

The problem of embezzlement from the funds of the museum is complex and multifaceted. Only high-profile cases become public knowledge: in 2001, in the same Hermitage, thieves who have not been found so far in the middle of the day were cut out of the frame and carried away the painting “Pool in the Harem” by Jean Leon Gerome. You can steal from the storerooms of the museum with almost impunity. Curious in this regard is the history of the inspection of the Hermitage Accounts Chamber in March 2000. The auditors demanded that the museum workers present 50 exhibits, according to the documents stored in the funds. The list was compiled according to random principle. The commissions were able to demonstrate only 3 exhibits, 19 more were found after the end of the check. Where the rest went, no one could tell. The same check revealed that in 2000, 220 thousand exhibits were not assigned to financially responsible persons at all. And 200 units of storage were listed for laid-off or deceased employees.

P.S. Last week, two exhibits from the stolen collection were found. The discovery of the icon "Cathedral of All Saints" by the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of St. Petersburg reported dryly: the image was found in a garbage can near the house 21 on Ryleeva Street. Anonymous allegedly informed about this by "02". unofficial version is as follows: as soon as the list of the missing was announced, a collector with the "Cathedral of All Saints" in his hands appeared in the "antique" department of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate (by a strange coincidence, it is next to the house 21 on Ryleeva Street). The Petersburger stated that he had purchased the icon from a private person as early as 2001. The second exhibit - a church bowl - was found last Friday in Moscow from a well-known antiquarian, who voluntarily handed it over to the authorities.

Dossier "Spark"

The State Hermitage Museum today is more than 3 million exhibits, half of which fall under the category of "especially valuable". Of these, 300 thousand - "Russian collection", 600 thousand - a collection of Western European art, 1500 - a jewelry gallery, over a million - the numismatics department, etc. Taking into account the rejection of the principle of the presumption of innocence of museum employees, almost all persons related to the "Russian" department of the Hermitage are under suspicion. By the way, the department of the history of Russian culture is the youngest department of the museum, it was founded in April 1941. At the moment, it has 34 employees, of which two are doctors of science and 13 are candidates. The exposition developed by the department occupies 50 halls.

Mikhail Piotrovsky is the first major failure of the 61-year-old director of the Hermitage in 14 years of his leadership of the museum. Piotrovsky - doctor historical sciences, the largest orientalist, one of the most favored by Putin cultural figures. Piotrovsky is the chairman of the Presidential Council of Culture, for some time he even headed the board of directors of ORT, the president of the World Club of Petersburgers.

Description

During the year, the Hermitage is visited by 3 million people. The main influx of visitors is from May to September, at this time 200-300 people enter the museum in 20 minutes

The museum's collection includes more than 3 million 106 thousand exhibits. Of these, paintings - about 17 thousand, graphic works- 623 thousand, sculptures - about 13 thousand, works applied arts- more than 357 thousand, archaeological objects of art - 751 thousand, numismatic monuments - more than 1 million 122 thousand, rare books- about 350, weapons - 14 thousand, etc. In the photo: Small Spanish clearance

The modern Hermitage is a complex of five buildings located on Palace Embankment and Millionnaya Street: the Winter Palace, the Big (Old) Hermitage, the Small Hermitage, New Hermitage, Hermitage Theatre. In addition, the museum's collections are located in the building of the General Staff on Palace Square and at the Menshikov Palace on Universitetskaya embankment. In the photo: The main staircase of the New Hermitage

The Rembrandt Hall in the Hermitage exhibits 24 canvases by the famous Dutchman. One of the most famous paintings the artist is written in 1636-1647. "Danae". In 1985, she was seriously injured - one of the visitors, later recognized as crazy, doused the painting with acid and slashed it with a knife. Rembrandt's painting took 12 years to restore

The museum has 180 thousand items representing the art of the East, including paintings, sculptures, applied arts, jewelry, writing samples, etc. The exhibits are presented in 50 halls. On the photo: Jordan stairs of the State Hermitage

In collection ancient antiquities- over 170 thousand items, including collections of painted vases, carved stones, antique sculpture, archaeological sites of the Northern Black Sea region, jewelry, etc. In the photo: children on an excursion near the sculpture of Jupiter, after which the Hermitage hall was named

To protect exhibits from rodents, cats have been living in the basements of the Hermitage since the time of Catherine II. More than 50 cats, cats and kittens are constantly employed in the museum. They live freely in the spacious cellars of the Hermitage, but animals are not allowed into the exhibition halls.

The collection of European art includes about 600 thousand items and covers the period from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The collection includes more than 7 thousand paintings, 2 thousand sculptures, 40 thousand drawings, 500 thousand engravings

The collection of exhibits of ancient and early medieval cultures in the Hermitage has almost 2 million items and is one of the best and largest in Russia

Soviet ladder. It got its name from State Council who in the 19th century was located on the first floor. Especially for him, a new entrance and a new staircase were arranged in the western part of the building (architect A. I. Stackenschneider)

The total area of ​​the premises (buildings) of the State Hermitage is 233,345 sq. m. m. Of these, the exposition and exhibition area occupies 66 thousand 842 square meters. m. In the photo: Sculptures of the Atlanteans on the portico of the Small Hermitage

The immemorial palace on the main square of St. Petersburg is over 250 years old. The majestic and elegant baroque building was built in 1762 by the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Portal "Culture.RF" has prepared 10 facts about the imperial residence and the Hermitage Museum, which is located in the palace.

Five Winter Palaces. Winter on Palace Square - the most famous imperial palace, but not the only one. There were five in total. First and second "winter houses" Peter I stood at the Winter Canal - a canal that connects the Moika and Neva rivers. The third palace - Anna Ioannovna - at Admiralty; the fourth was on Nevsky Prospekt. The Fifth Palace, known today to the whole world, according to the plan of Elizabeth Petrovna, was to become the embodiment of power Russian monarchy.

Do not build higher. Height Winter Palace- 23.5 meters. In 1844 Nicholas I issued a decree: he forbade the construction of civil buildings in St. Petersburg above 11 fathoms - 23.43 meters. And although the Winter Palace was not directly mentioned in the decree, it remained the tallest building northern capital.

City within a city. The Winter Palace has become a gigantic palace complex that can be called a city within a city. The building included a living area and ceremonial halls, two churches, a theater and a museum. There were also utility rooms here: a pharmacy with a laboratory and apartments for employees, kitchens and pantries, stables and an arena.

ceremonial halls. Part of the front halls of the Winter Palace overlooked the Neva, part was located in the central part of the palace. St. George's Hall - it is also called the Great Throne Hall - was created under Catherine II in 1795 according to the project of Giacomo Quarenghi. The marble bas-relief "George the Victorious Spearing the Dragon", located above the throne, was made by the sculptor Francesco del Nero according to the drawings Vasily Stasov. All official meetings and ceremonies were held in the St. George's Hall.

Frescoes from the Papal Palace. Raphael's loggias appeared in the Winter Palace 30 years after its construction, when it came into fashion in Europe and Russia classicism. The two-story building, erected in 1792 by Giacomo Quarenghi, houses a gallery with copies of frescoes from the Papal Palace in the Vatican. The construction was carried out according to the personal decree of Catherine II.

Architect's mistake. In 1826, Auguste Montferrand, on the orders of the emperor, built new apartments in the royal residence. It is believed that the architect made a mistake when designing the heating system. Because of her, in December 1837, a fire broke out in the palace, which could not be extinguished for two days. The building, from which only the skeleton remained, was restored for almost two years, the work was supervised by the architect Vasily Stasov. The renovated Winter Palace was an exact copy of the old palace complex - both externally and internally.

Gift for the king. The malachite living room is the only room whose interior has been completely preserved to this day. The living room served as a link between the state rooms of the palace and the rooms of the empress. The luxurious hall is decorated with the famous Ural malachite - a valuable green mineral. More than two tons of malachite were presented to the royal family for the decoration of the palace by miners Demidovs.

"Hermit's Dwelling". This is how the word Hermitage is literally translated. In past centuries, secluded cozy rooms for a pleasant pastime in the circle of relatives and friends were called "hermit's dwelling". In the 1760s, architects Yuri Felten and Jean-Baptiste-Michel Vallin-Delamot built the Small Hermitage next to the palace. The building became so called because Catherine II staged performances and entertainment evenings in it - “small hermitages”. Her first collection of paintings was kept here, which later became the basis museum collection.

palace cats. Cats appeared in the palace in 1745, when Empress Elizaveta Petrovna issued a decree on the expulsion of cats to the court. Animals received the honorary status of "guards art galleries". Today, about 60 cats live in the Hermitage. In the basement they have a specially equipped room with bowls, sleeping mats, trays. The cats have their own veterinarian. All animals are vaccinated, sterilized and undergo examinations in the best hospitals in St. Petersburg. The museum even has official holiday- Day of the Hermitage cat, it is celebrated in late April or early May. On this day, everyone is allowed into the cat's abode, and an exhibition of children's drawings is held under the Jordan Stairs.

There are 293 days left before the official celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Hermitage, but to start celebrating the anniversary largest museum country and main cultural symbol Petersburg, you can already today - on the unofficial birthday of the museum. It was on February 17, 1852 (162 years ago) that the Hermitage became a real public museum”- on this day, its doors were first opened to everyone. Prior to that, for 88 years, he remained a private collection royal family, and all the paintings and sculptures were securely hidden from prying eyes.

The best way to congratulate your favorite museum with significant date- walk through its halls. For the anniversary of the Hermitage, the editors of the site have collected the most interesting exhibits and divided them into three programs for independent excursions: for an hour, for three hours and for the whole day.

Express: Hermitage in an hour

Go around all the halls modern Hermitage in an hour it is impossible, even if you run without looking around and without stopping at the paintings and sculptures. However, sometimes museum visitors set themselves such a task - most often they are guests of the Northern capital, who need to go to Peterhof in a couple of days, visit the theater, and ride a boat along the Neva.

Limiting yourself to one hour, you will have to deny yourself the pleasure of a leisurely walk. To make it easier to navigate the corridors and halls, you can download the official application of the museum to your smartphone - so you can move freely without a tour group.

If you have very little time, it is best to choose a few of the most striking exhibits and get the best route using one of the information and reference kiosks - the machine will choose the shortest path between the selected points and give you a printed map with text navigation. Here are the most popular exhibits of the museum.

"Madonna Litta"

"Madonna Litta" is a picture that tourists from all over the world come to see. Photo: www.russianlook.com

One of two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci in the Hermitage. Exhibited in the da Vinci room on the second floor. "Madonna and Child (Madonna Litta)" was written in 1490-1491 in Milan. One of the masterpieces of the Renaissance. The painting came to the Hermitage in 1865 from the collection of Duke Antonio Litta in Milan. Preparatory drawing to the Hermitage canvas is stored in the Louvre.

« Madonna Benois»

The Benois Madonna is also known as the Madonna of the Flower. Photo: www.russianlook.com

The second masterpiece of Leonardo in the Hermitage collection. The painting “Madonna with a Flower” entered the collection from the Benois family, which is why its common name is connected. Written in 1478, it became one of the young da Vinci's first independent works. In one of the neighboring rooms you can admire the famous "Danaë" by Titian.

"Return of the Prodigal Son"

Rembrandt often used biblical and mythological subjects. Photo: www.russianlook.com

The painting is stored in the Rembrandt Hall along with 23 other paintings by the great Dutch master. The canvas dates from 1668-1669 and tells about gospel parable. The artist used this plot more than once, and painted the Hermitage painting shortly before his death. Also in this room on the second floor of the Winter Palace you can see his other paintings: Flora (1634), Danae (1636), Abraham's Sacrifice (1635) and Descent from the Cross (1634).

"Bacchus"

"Bacchus" is one of the paintings, thanks to which the expression "Rubensian forms" appeared. Photo: Creative Commons

The masters of Flanders coexist with the Dutch painter, and one of the most famous is Peter Paul Rubens. The Hermitage collection contains 22 paintings and 19 sketches made by the artist. The familiar "Bacchus" dates from 1638-1640 and entered the museum in 1772 from the collection of Pierre Crozat in Paris. With "Bacchus" nearby, you will see the paintings "Union of Earth and Water" (1618), "Perseus and Andromeda" (early 1620s) and "Stone Carriers" (circa 1620).

Three hours and three million

There is another option - to choose the most interesting collection and focus on it. As a rule, after the da Vinci and Rembrandt halls, the most interested people are at the entrance to the Hermitage Treasure Gallery. True, you can get there only with an excursion group.

The gallery of jewels was named so during the reign of Catherine the Great. It consists of the Gold and Diamond pantries.

The gold pantry includes about one and a half thousand gold objects from Eurasia, the Ancient Black Sea region and the East, made from the 7th century BC. BC. by the 19th century AD Here are the most interesting ones:

Shield plaque in the form of a deer figure (circa 600 BC)

Animal motifs are characteristic of Scythian art. Photo credit: creaitve commons / sailko

Belongs to the collection "Gold of the Scythians". Found in the village of Kostroma during excavations of the Kostroma barrow. The collection is based on finds from the mounds of the Kuban region, the Dnieper region, and the Crimea. Another pearl of the collection, included in all history textbooks, is a golden comb with the image of fighting warriors (late 5th - early 4th centuries BC), found in the Solokha mound in the Dnieper region.

Also in the "Golden Pantry" you can see masterpieces of the Hunnic jewelry art from the time of the Great Migration of Peoples (decorations of clothing and headdress, decoration of horse equipment), luxurious utensils, vessels, weapons of the East.

The second part of the gallery - "Diamond Pantry" - is dedicated to the development of jewelry. Here are jewelry from Byzantium, Kievan Rus And medieval Europe created with III millennium BC. until the beginning of the 20th century. In particular, items created by European jewelers in the 16th-17th centuries and 18th-19th centuries, and, finally, the work of St. Petersburg jewelers - items from the everyday life of the imperial family. Monuments are stored in the collection of the pantry church art, diplomatic gifts to the Russian court, products of the legendary firm of Carl Faberge.

Bouquet of flowers (1740), master Jeremiah Pozier. Jasper, agate, tiger's eye, flint, almadine, beryl, turquoise, coral, opal, corundum, aquamarine, topaz, amethyst, diamonds, diamonds, brilliants, rubies, sapphires, emeralds. Mentioned among the things of Catherine II.

A precious bouquet was pinned to a corset. Photo credit: Creative commons / shakko

Day in the Winter

Spending the whole day in the Hermitage is a fairly common practice among tourists traveling outside the group and ready to freely manage their time. Petersburgers are less likely to be so generous with their time, but the 250th anniversary of a great museum can be an additional incentive to dedicate a whole day to your favorite works of art.

You can start from the first floor - there you will find Egyptian gods, sarcophagi and vases, history ancient world and the mummy of a Scythian leader.

The Egyptian Hall is one of the schoolchildren's favorite places on excursions. Photo: Creative commons / Thomas Ault

Then you can climb the Jordan Stairs to the Field Marshal's Hall and turn into portrait gallery Romanovs. Next - the Malachite Hall, the library of Nicholas II and the exposition "Russian interior of the XIX - early XX centuries."

In the southeastern part of the second floor, having examined white hall, you can go upstairs to see the work of Western European artists XIX-XX centuries and separately - about 250 canvases french impressionists. Here you will find seven paintings by Claude Monet - from "Lady in the Garden" (1867) to "Waterloo Bridge" (1903), two Parisian views of Pissarro, three landscapes by Sisley, pastels by Degas. Here - Cezanne and Gauguin, Van Gogh and 37 paintings by Henri Matisse, including "Dance" and "Music" (both 1910). Nearby - 31 paintings by Picasso, from the early "Absinthe Drinker" (1901) to "Woman with a Fan" (1908).

The Hermitage presents 37 paintings by Henri Matisse. Photo: Creative Commons

After that, you can again go down to the second floor and walk through the royal halls for ceremonial receptions - the Armorial Hall, the 1812 Gallery and the St. George's Hall. Then you can visit the Small Hermitage and at the end of the day, when the flow of visitors from the most popular halls subsides, reach the legendary Titian, da Vinci, Raphael and Rembrandt. In parting, you can go down to the halls of Greek and Roman art.