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The Great Collections VI State Hermitage St. Petersburg Two Faces of the Hermitage The Scythians and their Gold From Caravaggio to Poussin The State Hermitage Museum belongs to an illustrious group of exceptional museums in the world, which with their rich collections uphold a living memory of past cultures and eras. The founder of this legendary collection, Emperess Catherine II, (who reigned from 1762-1796), converted a pavilion in the "hanging gardens" of the Winter Palace into a "hermitage" (retreat) and decorated the newly refurbished building with the valuable paintings she had been collecting on a large scale since 1764. In the course of time, the entire picture gallery as well as other sections of the imperial art collections eventually became known as the "Hermitage". Today, the collection of the State Hermitage Museum comprises over three million exhibits. The exhibition in the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle concentrates on two aspects of this very diverse collection. The first section represents the gold of the Scythians, which since antiquity has been steeped in legend, and offers an insight into the Hermitage's archaeological treasure-house. The second section focuses on its famous picture gallery with a selection of paintings and drawings from the Italian, Spanish and French Baroque. The exhibition is accompanied by a two-volume catalogue that includes essays on and colour illustrations of all the works exhibited. Each volume is available for DM 68,-, together they cost DM 98,-. Exhibition Posters   Exhibition Directors for Bonn The Sythians and their Gold: Agnieszka Lulinska Renate Rolle, Hamburg From Caravaggio to Poussin: Agnieszka Lulinska Justus Müller Hofstede, Bonn Exhibition Architecture: Paolo Martellotti Coordination of the cooperation with the State Hermitage: Johanna Roos email: Agnieszka Lulinska, Project Manager

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