Bev

My husband and I will be taking a Baltic Capitals cruise this summer, and will stop in St. Petersburg for most of two days. We plan to spend some time at the Hermitage museum and wonder if there are any "must sees" there.<BR>Thanks for four help!<BR>Bev

Garfield

I guess it really depends on your interest and how much time you have available. Take your time, I watched tour groups being rushed past some of the classic art without even stopping. Have a look at: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org<BR>to see what is available.<BR>

Gary

The Hermitage is one of the world’s great art museums; of awesome size and diversity, it embraces everything from ancient Scythian gold and Kyoto woodcuts to Cubism. It has been calculated that merely to glance at each of the 2.8 million objects it houses would take nine years and would entail walking a distance of more than 10km. Even just the interior of the Winter Palace itself, with its magnificent state rooms, is worth seeing<BR><BR>Some of the highlights: the Italian art section with works by Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian, Veronese and Tiepolo; the Dutch and Flemish art collection, with the largest gathering of works by Rembrandt outside the Netherlands, as well as paintings by Rubens and Van Dyck; and Flemish landscapes and the most impressive collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French art outside France. After the state rooms and the Special Collection, the third floor of the Winter Palace is the most universally popular section of the Hermitage, covering modern European art from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with impressionist paintings and works by Matisse and Picasso. Other famous artists whose work is represented are Rodin, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, Delacroix, C&eacute;zanne, Pissarro, Monet, Degas and Renoir.<BR><BR>You will have plenty of things to see and not enough time.

Debbie

Bev-Wonderful suggestions for enjoying the treasures inside the Hermitage, but do take some time to walk around the buildings and enjoy it from the outside as well. From the statuatory atop the Winter Palace, to the vastness and historical significance of Palace Square, to the Alexander Column (which will probably be engulfed in scaffolding), to the beautiful view of the Neva River to the Peter and Paul Fortress, along the canal, and on and on. Few sights will compare, on a whole, to the beauty of the Hermitage.

Marc David Miller

As previously mentioned the Picassos and Matisses are wonderful--along with the Pushkin in Moscow the Hermitage holds the world's best collection or paintings by those two artists.

aaa

You just take one look at grand staircase and you space out. At first visit you will be so busy looking at floors and ceilings, that you will forget about wahat hanging on the walls

Alan

There is a small room in the Hermitage which now has on display a number of paintings discovered in recent years after having been hidden from the approaching Nazis during WWII. A large number of them are by master impressionists. These paintings were thrilling to see. YOu can spend forever in the Hermitage, but the heat may get to you. We did a short morning tour as a shore excursion from our cruise ship, which got us into the museum prior to the public opening time. The summer lines to get in are enormous. As we had visas, we told our tour guide (excellent) that we would be staying and not be returning to with the tour. After 4 hours of soaking in the stunning art and rooms, the lack of air conditioning (we Americans are spoiled) was getting to us. We then spent the rest of the day roaming around with a good guide book. We then took the shuttle provided by our cruise line back to the pier. We had a great day.

Elizabeth

The Matisses<BR><BR> Rembrandt's "The Danae" is made much of<BR><BR> The Kandinskys<BR><BR> The Bonnards & Vuillards

viktor

xx: you don't understand the pleasure of just talking and exchanging opinions which is part of this board.<BR><BR>BEV: Hermitage is still my favorite large art museum, IMHO it easily beats Met and Prado. Louvre is the only competiton, but still it looses. And huge part of Hermitage is in it being a former palace of the tsars and still has a lot of that atmosphere and glamour. My favorites: Portrait of Antonia Sarate by Goia and Kandinsky's Composition #5 (upper floor, 20th century art).

MHS

Bev, the only way you will see "what you want to see" as opposed to the general "what's most important" is to either tour on your own -- as Alan did -- or with your own private guide. Any ship's tour will take you through the State Rooms and to view the VIP Renaissance paintings. You will not be allowed time to wander alone at any venue in St. Petersburg. (Princess; Aug 2001)

Mandy

Bev, I was in St. P for two days on a cruise a couple years ago and took the ship's tour to the Hermitage. I was very happy to have had a tour guide; we really saw a lot in a few hours. I was disappointed, tho, not to have been told that Cleopatra's cameo is in a special treasury (?) that is a separate entrance fee, and by the time I realized this we didn't have time to go there. It's hard to imagine how some objects could be more special that what we saw on the regular tour. Must go back and see! We also took a tour to Peterhof and the Pushkin Palace which are FABULOUS! Check out a book from your library. The Hermitage is much like the Louvre; just packed!

anna

If you have any chance, arrange for tour of special treasure - Gold Collection. It is SPECTACULAR!!! It houses unique collection of scythian gold. No other collection of antique jewelery like that nowhere in the world. Imperial jewels are interesting too..

Bev

Hi<BR>Thanks for all your suggestions and many, many thanks to those of you who supported me asking the question in the first place. As you observed, a traveller should do research on the places they'll be visiting and I do. I am reading various books, I've seen a few videos and I've visited a few travel-related web sites for info. I also think that message boards like this are a GREAT way to research places - where else can you get down-to-earth, practical, unbiased feedback from regular people. Thanks again for all your help! Bev