2012 Hermitage

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The Hermitage museum and the Winter Palace is the most exotic building we have ever seen.  There are of course many good photographs, as well as detailed historical information, available on the web and in the literature.

A few shots we took are presented here.

Helen and Diane are standing in Palace Square, with most of the Hermitage building visible behind.  Each "knob" on the roof is a different statue, providing a foretaste of the extent and variety of objets d'art inside.

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There are many rooms in the building, each magnificently decorated, with a variety of exhibits.


Many were made outside Russia and were either purchased or were gifts from foreign nobility and monarchs.

This fireplace is magnificent, but I cannot imagine that it heated the large room it is in, during a Russian winter.

The Tsars and their families must have been tough.

Diane has gone home to redesign her living room just like this one.



This thoughtful Cupid appealed to Helen
There is a large variety of painting on display, including some famous ones, but I found them less interesting than the rooms they were in.

Floors and ceilings were always complex.  Some were beautiful, while in others we merely admired the workmanship although we did not find them attractive.
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