"Ah, the Hermitage, ah, the Hermitage! What a portrait, what a landscape!" - Laima Vaikule sang in her song. What is the meaning of the word Hermitage? Is not it, it is very familiar and heard by many? This is not surprising. The State Hermitage is located in St. Petersburg, the second capital of our country. It is a huge museum complex. It is located on the territory of the Winter Palace (the Imperial Palace, popular with Russian and foreign tourists, a significant cultural object of Russia).
Museum History
The name of the museum came from France. Translated from French, "ermitage" means solitude, seclusion, a place of refuge for a hermit. The very first collection was located in the palace wing - the Hermitage, and only select ones were allowed there.
Today the building is the largest museum in the country, and, along with this, one of the largest in the world. Included in the top twenty most visited museums in the world. Its foundations were laid back during the reign of Empress Elizabeth. In 1764, construction began on the first building - the Small Hermitage.
Then, for more than 80 years, the remaining buildings of the complex were erected: the Old Hermitage, the Hermitage Theater and the New Hermitage. The construction of the latter ended in 1852.
So, the word "Hermitage" in the meaning of "museum" began to be used in 1764. It was then that Catherine the Second placed a collection of paintings purchased in Berlin in the apartments of the Winter Palace.
The Empress later acquired the Voltaire Library. Subsequently, paintings were bought in France, Germany and England. The collections were constantly replenished, and in the 19th century archaeological finds were brought to the Hermitage. The first exhibition for public visits was opened in 1852.
Modern Hermitage
Today, the museum houses more than three million different exhibits: from relics from the Stone Age to works of modern art. It is simply unrealistic to go around the entire territory of the museum in one visit - the total area of the complex is more than 230 thousand square meters!
In addition to valuable exhibits, the museum complex itself has architectural significance and is a cultural monument.
Masterpieces of painting, including paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali and many other famous artists, are located in the halls of the New and the Great Hermitage. On the first and second floors of the Winter Palace archeology and ancient art are presented, paintings by French and English artists of the XV-XVIII centuries, as well as magnificent interiors of different eras and styles.
It is not possible to list all the amazing masterpieces and architectural beauties. We offer to watch an introductory video about the museum.
What does the word “Hermitage” mean in a figurative sense?
In the public mind, the name of the museum is directly connected with a huge collection of masterpieces and the luxury of architecture. Therefore, a private collection can be metaphorically called a Hermitage. And in an ironic sense - to speak about the overly luxurious and pompous interior of a room or residential building.