St Petersburg Part 3 - The Hermitage Museum

The Hermitage, St Petersburg, was a most extraordinary museum, although by the time we saw it early in the afternoon, despite the long wait to pass through security, it was so crowded you could not enjoy it nearly as much as you might if you were free to wander about at your own pace in peace and quiet. I might add this was also true of the Youssupov Palace, where we arrived at 8 am in the morning, only to wait almost an hour to gain entry. In each case we only had a limited time, so it was really hard to take photos and simultaneously keep track of your group. 

With two 10-hour excursions in a row after a full day’s excursion on the previous day, I simply did not have the time or energy to write up each excursion on that day. As a result, I am still concerned about any mix-up between photos, which is easy to do when you are travelling on your own and have no-one at your side with whom you can consult when you are unsure. To complicate matters, the automatic dating on my photos taken inside buildings with my iPhone seems to be mixed up for some reason. So I am relying on my friends who have spent many hours in these museums and palaces to send me their advice and corrections if needed.

What did strike me and is impressed on my memory, however, was how ornate the decorative style was in the Hermitage, and how much golf leaf must have been used to gild so many carvings. One could only admire the incredible craftsmanship throughout. It really was stunning although I could not live with that kind of embellishment myself. There were also some beautiful pieces of furniture, sculptures, paintings and ceramics and some lovely wallpapers, carpets and parquetry floors throughout the museum. These were principally organised according to the countries where the works were created. 

I will spread the photos over two posts. You will notice that I pay a lot of attention to ceilings. This is partly because they were often one of the standout features of the rooms and I really admired their designs and the workmanship in them. To me a beautiful ceiling is like the icing on the cake! But it also is partly because at least I avoided having my photos ruined by the many people standing in front of me. In one room, shown in the last photo, we were treated with some beautiful harmonious singing, which was a delightful surprise. The voices of the men were outstanding.