Editorial
Special project. Our sites
It is one of the most visited art museums in the world. At the end of 2016, more than 4 million people visited it. This is one of the most significant, from a cultural and historical point of view, a museum in Russia. Once upon a time, only the elite got here, even Pushkin was not immediately allowed in, and then bomb shelters were set up in the basements of the museum and the collections were sold and given away to the “friends” of the Soviet government for a penny.
Hermitages for solitary excursions
The history of the Hermitage began in 1764, when Catherine II bought a collection of 225 paintings from the Berlin merchant Gotzkowski. At first they were placed in the Winter Palace. But the empress got a taste - she continued to buy paintings, sculptures, coins.
Hanging Garden, Small Hermitage. Photo: hermitagemuseum.org
All this wealth had to be placed somewhere. And at the behest of the Empress, an extension was erected near the Winter Palace - a place for secluded relaxation with a front door, living rooms and a greenhouse. This is how the Small Hermitage appeared, in the longitudinal galleries of which works from the same acquired collection were placed. Translated from French, the hermitage is a place of solitude, a hermit's shelter. Actually, in France, small pavilions at palaces were called hermitages. And the Catherine's Hermitage was conceived as a place where the Empress and her entourage could enjoy art in solitude.
But the idea has outgrown itself. The imperial collection was replenished year by year. For example, in 1769 alone, 600 paintings by the Saxon minister Brühl were purchased. The Small Hermitage alone was not enough for all this splendor. And by order of Catherine II, next to the Small Hermitage, the Great Hermitage was erected - a three-story building created by the architect Feuilleton in the style of classicism.
During the reign of Catherine II, the Hermitage collection was replenished with works by Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Michelangelo and other masters. Special agents even worked abroad who bought works of art for the Hermitage.
The Great Hermitage, the hall of Spanish painting, late XIX century.
Photo: pastvu.com
Hermitage cat. Photo: life-spb.rf
Speaking about the history of the Hermitage during the period of Catherine II, it is inexcusable to remain silent about the famous Hermitage cats. It is believed that cats were brought to the territory of the Winter Palace in order to prevent the reproduction of rats. Then the Hermitage appeared, and although its creator Catherine did not really like cats, she decided to leave them as guards art galleries. Cats lived in the Hermitage after the revolutions, under Soviet rule, they were especially useful after the war, when they had to fight hard against the breeding rodents. Cats live in the Hermitage to this day. True, they are not allowed to enter the museum halls. And in 2016, the Telegraph added the Hermitage cats to the list of unusual sights to see.
How the Hermitage became public
During the reign of Alexander I, the Hermitage collection was replenished with works by Italian, Flemish and Dutch schools. In the era of Nicholas I, who cared about his image, as they would say now, and who was fond of military affairs, in 1826 the military gallery 1812. It consisted of portraits of generals, field marshals, princes, emperors - all those who distinguished themselves during the war.
By the way, it was Nicholas I who turned the Hermitage into public museum. Prior to this, common man there was no way to get there. Even Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was allowed into the Hermitage only on the recommendation of Zhukovsky, who was the tutor of the imperial son.
Military gallery in 1812. Photo: pastvu.com
New Hermitage, 1970s. Photo: pastvu.com
So, in 1852, the opening of the Imperial Museum of the New Hermitage took place. The building of the New Hermitage was open to visitors. But again, openness turned out to be relative: it was necessary to get a ticket at the palace office, which was not available to everyone. In addition, a dress code was introduced for visitors: uniform or tailcoat.
The new Hermitage, distinguished by its great luxury, was the first building in Russia specially created for art museum. On the first floor there is a collection of antiquities, on the second - an art gallery. Thirty years later, the Hermitage's attendance reached 50,000 people a year.
The second half of the 19th century was remembered for the creation of the Pavilion Hall (one of the most spectacular interiors of the Hermitage), the ceremonial interiors of the Greater Hermitage, the acquisition of paintings by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, the transfer of the Tsarskoye Selo Arsenal (a collection of armor and weapons) to the Hermitage and the replenishment of the museum with works by Russian painters.
20th century: sale, evacuation and long recovery
in an amazing way The Hermitage was not badly damaged during revolutionary events. The Hermitage employees did not resist and announced the acceptance of the new government and the continuation of the work of the museum. But visitors were temporarily refused.
Pavilion Hall, 1959. Photo: pastvu.com
Evacuation of the Hermitage collection, 1917. Photo: pastvu.com
However, in September 1917, the Provisional Government announced the nationalization of the palaces and created a commission to accept the valuables of the Winter Palace, part of the collection was evacuated to Moscow. And then October revolution The Hermitage, in fact, like Winter Palace became state museums. The valuables evacuated to Moscow returned, the visitors also returned, the entrance was free for five years after the revolution.
For the Hermitage, the years 1920-1930 were controversial. On the one hand, there was a nationalization of private collections. So the collections of Byzantine coins, icons, ancient documents, the Kushelev Gallery with paintings by Rousseau, Deccan, Delacroix came to the museum.
On the other hand, at that time, the role of St. Petersburg, which was traditionally considered the imperial capital, was to be reduced in favor of the new capital, Moscow. And this new capital also needed its own large museum with a large collection of works of art. This place has become the current State Museum fine arts named after A.S. Pushkin. As a result, about 500 paintings were transferred to Moscow from the Hermitage.
A blow to the Hermitage at that time was the literal squandering of the museum's valuables. A huge number of paintings were taken to European auctions, and Soviet authority gave away the museum's collections to foreign political partners or businessmen with whom they needed to maintain a relationship.
Another test for the museum was prepared by the Great Patriotic War. As soon as the war began, about a million works of art were evacuated from the Hermitage to the Urals. Museum staff took care of the exhibits, and not one of them disappeared during the entire evacuation.
Empty halls of the Hermitage during the evacuation, 1941.
Photo: pastvu.com
Return of works of art from evacuation to the Hermitage, 1945.
Photo: foto-history.livejournal.com
But part of the collections could not be taken out of Leningrad - a blockade began. There were divisions in the Hermitage civil defense, and in the museum cellars - 12 bomb shelters. But the museum was still badly damaged by the bombing. After the end of the war, some halls were restored within a few months, and some, damaged by artillery shells and bombs, had to be put in order for several years. A pleasant post-war gift was the transfer to the Hermitage of more than 300 paintings from the Museum of the New western European art. Among these paintings were works by Monet, Gauguin, Cezanne, Picasso, Matisse and other artists.
The Hermitage breaks records
In 1988, the Hermitage entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest art gallery in the world.
After the collapse of the USSR, the Hermitage focused its efforts on replenishing its collections with works of the 20th century. This, to some extent, was helped by the international Hermitage Friends Club, founded in 1996 to support restoration projects and programs for the acquisition of new exhibits. And in 2006, the Hermitage 20/21 project was launched, the purpose of which was to draw attention to contemporary art.
To see all the exhibits of the Hermitage, you have to walk more than 20 km. And if you linger at each exhibit even for a minute, it will take 11 years.
Now the museum's collection includes about three million works of art: paintings, sculptures, archaeological finds, graphics, etc. The Hermitage hosts exhibitions, scientific conferences and master classes. Huge queues line up at the museum (especially on the first Thursday of the month, when admission is free).
But St. Petersburg alone was not enough for the Hermitage, and museum offices began to open in other cities and countries. For example, centers State Hermitage already exists in Kazan, Vyborg, Amsterdam, there are branches in London, Venice.
The queue at the Hermitage, 2016. Photo: blog.fontanka.ru
The immemorial palace on the main square of St. Petersburg is over 250 years old. The majestic and elegant building in the Baroque style 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. The first and second "winter houses" of Peter I stood at the Winter Canal - a canal that connects the Moika and Neva rivers. The third palace - Anna Ioannovna - at the 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. The height of the Winter Palace is 23.5 meters. In 1844, Nicholas I issued a decree: he forbade the construction of civil buildings in St. Petersburg higher than 11 sazhens - 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 slaying the dragon with a spear", located above the throne, was made by the sculptor Francesco del Nero based on the drawings of 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 classicism came into vogue in Europe and Russia. 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 the miners Demidovs.
"Hermit's Dwelling". This is how the word Hermitage is literally translated. In past centuries, secluded cozy rooms for a pleasant pastime with relatives and friends were called "hermit's dwelling". In the 1760s, the 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 of 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.
This year myself big museum country turns 250 years old. About 3 million people visit the Hermitage annually, the highest number among Russian museums. Almost every visitor wants not only to see paintings best artists from all over the world, but also to learn about the Hermitage from the other, “non-frontal” side. After all, you can read about his collection on Wikipedia, but not about the life of his employees. Therefore, we answered the most popular questions visitors to show the museum from a different perspective.
1. What must you see in the Hermitage?
Among the world's best museums, the Hermitage stands out for its collection of Dutch art XVII century (second floor), a good collection of works of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists (now moved to Main Headquarters), as well as Renaissance art. It houses two paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, two works by Raphael and a sculpture by Michelangelo. So significant works there is no world art in any museum in Russia.
Most of all, visitors like the two so-called "Pantries": "Diamond" and "Golden". The first store jewelry royal family and diplomatic gifts. There are works by Faberge, brooches of Empress Elisabeth and weapons decorated with precious stones. More in the "Golden Pantry" archaeological finds. The most important thing here is the Scythian gold. However, in order to get into these "Pantries", you need a separate ticket and a guide: it is forbidden to be there unaccompanied.
Bouquet of flowers. 1740s. "Diamond Treasure"
2. How long does it take to walk around the entire Hermitage?
The museum's collection includes more than three million exhibits. If you spend at least a minute on each of them, then you can see everything in 13 years. Even just to go around all the halls without stopping at the shop windows, it will take almost 5 hours. Excursions on average last one and a half to two hours. Visitors get acquainted with the main exhibits and halls: the front rooms of the Winter Palace, the Peacock clock, rooms with works of the Renaissance, Rembrandt and antique sculpture.
3. Why are other museums forced to wear shoe covers or special slippers, but not here? Does the Hermitage not protect parquet?
Protects, but the Hermitage has 300,000 visitors a day. You can't put on shoe covers for everyone. However, from shoes to high heels visitors are still asked to refrain: dents remain on 200-year-old boards forever.
4. “These are probably all copies. The originals have long been sold to America / lie in the storerooms / carried out by employees.
In each group there are tourists who believe that most of the paintings in the Hermitage are copies. Of course, many will chuckle derisively, but all the works on display are genuine.
Yes, a lot was sold at auctions, a lot of things really lie in storerooms, and there was a scandal with one of the Hermitage curators Larisa Zavadskaya, who took exhibits out of the museum for several years. However, everything that hangs at the exposition is the originals. No self-respecting museum will deceive its visitors, and the Hermitage is one of best museums peace.
5. How is everything guarded? It feels like everything can be taken.
In all major museums, including the Hermitage, there are security services. Unlike the police, they do not carry out power control, but technical control - they organize an alarm system, a perimeter security system and the protection of individual exhibits. Of course, the level of protection of works at the world level.
At the same time, of course, there was a lot in the Hermitage: paintings were stolen, and vases were taken out, and Rembrandt's Danae was doused with acid. This can happen in any museum in the world, no one is immune from theft.
The painting was purchased Alexander III. In 2001, an unknown person cut the canvas out of the frame. In 2009, it was returned to the Hermitage, but the thief has not yet been found.
6. Is it possible to hide somewhere at night so that the guards do not find it?
For some reason, visitors believe that art critics or scientists after retirement. In reality, this is not the case: any person can be hired, even without education, if he inspires confidence, of course. Because of the small salary and not very active work Older people are more likely to respond to the vacancy, although there is no age limit.
This work also has its advantages: caretakers can choose their own halls for shifts, the work schedule is not very busy, and the team is quite friendly. In general, the Hermitage is big family everyone here knows each other.
Most difficult period caretaker's work - summer. During the tourist season, the halls are overcrowded, especially on the second floor. It is necessary to ensure that visitors do not touch the exhibits and keep up with the groups.
8. How to get a job at the Hermitage?
Unlike the position of a caretaker, it is simply impossible to get into the position of a researcher just like that. First, the candidate must have higher education. Art historians are not always needed: many archaeologists work in the antique department, and orientalists work in the eastern department. However, even education does not guarantee getting a job in the Hermitage.
There are two ways to get hired as an employee. The first is to “shine” at various conferences and round tables that take place in the museum, get acquainted there with the heads of departments. The second is to become a tour guide in the hope of getting the right connections in this way. But this option is the most unreliable: some have been working this way for years. The best way- choose a research supervisor for thesis of the Hermitage employees and so slowly declare themselves. In the rest, these are connections, connections and once again connections.
9. Do the tour guides know about all the paintings?
Almost all the Hermitage guides have an art history or culture education. Many people come from related professions, but before “going on a tour”, they study for almost a year: they analyze in detail the history of buildings, the formation of a collection, memorize the main works. You can’t know everything, but with a general art history education, you can really tell about almost any work.
There are three groups of guides a day, with each of them he works for two hours on average. All this time I have to talk non-stop. You can imagine how tired you are at the end of the day: your feet are buzzing, especially if the shoes are uncomfortable, in the summer it is terribly stuffy in the halls (sometimes people faint in the Rembrandt Hall), and visitors can be difficult. But there is also a huge plus: there is nothing better when you remember the smiles and gratitude of people before going to bed, especially if you manage to win the attention of children. Immediately there is a feeling that all this is not in vain.
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, the New Hermitage, and the Hermitage Theatre. In addition, the museum's collections are housed in the General Staff Building on Palace Square and in the Menshikov Palace on University 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 Northern Black Sea region, jewelry and others. In the photo: children on an excursion near the sculpture of Jupiter, after which the hall of the Hermitage 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
It will take at least eight years to inspect more than three million exhibits of the Hermitage. We offer a sightseeing tour-acquaintance with the main secrets of the museum.
What about Peacock?
In 1777, Prince Grigory Potemkin decided to Once again surprise Empress Catherine. His choice fell on the work of the English mechanic James Cox. Why on him, is unknown. Perhaps the Russian count saw amazing things in the advertising catalogs that the master published. However, it is not completely clear whether Cox personally carried out the order for the Russian prince or whether Friedrich Urey helped him. The gift had to be taken apart - otherwise it would simply not be delivered to Russia. They disassembled something, but they could not assemble it - some of the parts turned out to be either broken or lost. So the spectacular gift would have been gathering dust if in 1791 Potemkin had not instructed Ivan Kulibin to “revive the birds”. And the master of the highest class did the impossible: the clock went, and the intricate mechanism set in motion. As soon as the clock starts ringing, the owl in the cage “comes to life”. To the sound of bells, the cage begins to rotate. Then the peacock “wakes up”: its tail rises, begins to bloom, the bird bows, draws in and throws back its head, opens its beak. At the moment when the tail is fully opened, the peacock turns 180 degrees so that the audience sees it ... behind. The feathers are then lowered and the peacock takes its original position. Learn about true reason such impartial behavior of a peacock is impossible today. According to one version, Kulibin failed to get the bird to do full turn. Another legend claims that the master deliberately forced the bird to perform a similar “fuete”, thereby demonstrating his attitude towards the royal court, for which the “bird” was intended.
Tomb of Homer
In the hall of Jupiter you can find another unsolved riddle Hermitage - "Homer's tomb". It was taken either from the island of Andros, or from the island of Chios during the First Archipelago Expedition of Count Orlov-Chesmensky. The first owner of the tomb was the "instigator of unusual cases" Count Alexander Stroganov, who wrote: "In the first Turkish war 1770 Russian officer Domashnev, who commanded our landing on one of the islands of the Archipelago, brought this sarcophagus to Russia and presented it to me. At the sight of this monument, I could not help but exclaim: “Isn’t this a monument to Homer?” The phrase began to pass from mouth to mouth, only, it seems, without an interrogative intonation. Soon, Stroganov's authority as a collector grew enormously. No wonder, because he possessed an object that adventurers from all over the world had been chasing for centuries. However, the “Tomb of Homer” is another beautiful legend, like Atlantis or the gold of Troy. After studying the bas-reliefs, scientists confidently stated that the ancient tomb was created in the 2nd century AD, which means that the person who owned the sarcophagus missed Homer by nine hundred years. But so far, another mystery of the tomb remains unsolved: a completely different style of the back and front walls of the sarcophagus. How, where and when these walls were connected is not clear.
Bloodthirsty Goddess
In the Egyptian hall you can find one of the oldest Egyptian monuments in Russia - a statue of the goddess of war and retribution, the angry Mut-Sokhmet. According to the myth, the bloodthirsty goddess decided to destroy the human race. The gods decided to save the people: they poured red-tinted beer in front of the goddess, which Mut-Sokhmet mistook for human blood. I drank and calmed down. However, the legend of the Hermitage assures that the danger to people still remains. Allegedly, every year on the full moon, a reddish puddle appears on the knees of the goddess. According to another version, the legs of the goddess are covered with a strange reddish wet coating whenever another trouble, misfortune, and catastrophe await Russia. Last time the raid was allegedly discovered in 1991. Is there any truth in the legend? And how can you explain the strange "bloody" raid? These questions have not yet been answered.
The Secret of the Golden Mask
The collections of the Hermitage contain only three antique gold masks. One of them is a mask from the tomb of Reskuporid. In 1837, archaeologists discovered a barrow in the vicinity of Kerch, inside they found a stone sarcophagus with a female skeleton, which supposedly belonged to none other than the queen: the whole body is covered with plaques of gold, a golden wreath is on her head, her face is hidden by a golden mask. Around the sarcophagus was found a large number of valuable items, including a silver dish engraved with the name of King Reskuporid, the ruler Bosporan kingdom. Scientists suggested that his wife was buried in the sarcophagus, but later doubted. So far, the hypothesis that golden mask hid the face of the Bosporan queen, has not been confirmed or refuted.
Bowing Peter
An aura of mystery surrounds the so-called "wax person" of Peter, on which domestic and European masters worked after the death of the emperor. Many visitors claimed that they saw with their own eyes how the wax Peter got up, bowed, and then pointed to the door, apparently hinting that it was time and honor for the guests to know. In the 20th century, during the restoration, hinges were found inside the figure, which made it possible to put the figure of Peter in a chair and put it on. However, no mechanism that would allow the king to move independently was found. To some, the evidence seemed unconvincing, to someone - they did not want to lose another beautiful legend. Be that as it may, but even today there are many who claim that they were in the hall with the “familiar caretaker” at the very moment when the figure “came to life”.
Unique earrings
In the Siberian collection of Peter I, you can find Feodosian earrings made in the ancient Greek granulation technique. Their main decoration is a microscopic multi-figure composition illustrating the Athenian competitions. The smallest grain, which is strewn with one of the parts of the jewelry, can only be seen with a magnifying glass. Under high magnification, tiny grains are found, which are connected in fours and lined up in rows - it was this finish that gave the Feodosian earrings worldwide fame. The world's best jewelers tried to create copies of Feodosian jewelry, but the task turned out to be impossible. Neither the method of soldering nor the composition of the solder used by the masters of antiquity could be found out.
"Icon of Godless Time"
One of the most scandalous masterpieces, Malevich's 1932 Black Square, can also be found in the Hermitage. The author himself interpreted the idea as infinity, generalized in single sign, calling the "Black Square" an icon of a new, godless time. controversy about ideological content the canvases have been kept for a long time, but from the moment the painting was exhibited in the Hermitage, attention has been drawn again and again to its “destructive” energy: some visitors next to it lost consciousness, others, on the contrary, became violently excited. Is the world masterpiece really endowed mystical power, or is this another attempt to "add fuel to the fire"? These questions are easy to answer, one has only to visit the Hermitage.
