On account of the considerable increase of the museum collections jfter the Revolution, the Winter Palace was added to the Hermitage, the State rooms and living rooms being fitted to the exhibition purposes, svhereas the architectural style and decorations were carefully preserved.
Among the most notable rooms of the Winter Palace is the imposing suite of the State rooms which begins with the Small Throne Room, or Peter Room, so called in the 19th century in memory of Peter 1 (Hermitage, 1st floor, room 194). It was designed b y O. Monferrand (1786—1858) in 1833 and reconstructed by V. Stasov after the fire of 1837. The walls are upholstered with fine Lyon velvet embroidered with silver thread, which was commissioned specially for this room. Raised gilded plaster work and ceiling-paintings also deserve special mention.
The room houses now the throne chair made for Peter I in 1714 by a London silversmith N. Clausen and used after Peter I’s death by all Russian tsars at the receptions in the Winter Palace.
Next to the Small Throne Room is the Emblem Hall (Hermitage, 1st floor, room â„– 195) which received its name from the plaques fixed at the numerous chandeliers and bearing coats of arms of Russian provinces.
Adjacent to it is the famous “Gallery of 1812″ (Hermitage, room 197) built by the architect C. Rossi (1775—1849) in 1826 to commemorate the victory over Napoleon. The Gallery comprises 332 portraits to the number of the generals engaged in the campaign. The English painter George Dawe (1781 —1829) and two Russian painters A. Polvakov (1801—1835) and V. Golike (d. 1848) fulfilled the work between the years 1819 and 1829. Most of the portraits were painted from life, which makes them especially interesting both from the historic and artistic point of view.
Gallery of the Patriotic War of 1812
In case a general had already been dead by the moment of the construction of the Gallery and there existed no other representation of his to serve as a model, an empty frame upholstered with green silk was left, the name and the rank being inscribed on it. The Gallery of Russian glory, it commemorates the names of fieldmarshal Kutuzov and his companions-in-arms Bagration, Barclay de Tolly, Davydov, Rayevsky, Platov, Kulnev and others. After the October Revolution it was supplemented with four portraits of Russian soldiers, participants in the same campaign, and also painted by Dawe.
Among the noteworthiest rooms of the Winter Palace is Georgiyevsky or the Large Throne Room (Hermitage, 1st floor, room 198) covering an area of 800 square meters. It was decorated by Stasov only with two sorts of material — white Carrara marble and gilded bronze — forming a noble colour scheme which added much to the sublimity of the general effect created by the spacious and faultless proportions of the room. Special notice deserve the ceiling ornaments of cast gilded bronze repeated in the pattern of the floor which is composed of sixteen kinds of rare wood.
The throne, now on show in the Small Throne Room, is replaced by the Map of the Russia. It is skilfully composed of 45 000 pieces of stone, the lowlands, mountains, and neighbouring countries being inlaid with jaspers of different shades; the State frontiers — with rhodonite and jasper; the rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans — with lapis-lazuli; the North Pole is marked with a ruby flag, the drift of the ice-floe which carried Papanin’s expedition — with cut topases; the cities are marked with stars: Moscow and the capitals of the republics — with ruby stars, the other cities — with gilt silver stars bearing a ruby in the centre; the names of the cities are inlaid with cut precious stones: rubies — for Moscow, emeralds — for the capitals of the republics, alexandrite — for Saint Petersburg.
The Map was completed by the Soviet stone carvers in 1937, and was shown on the World Fairs in Paris, 1937, and in New York, 1939.
Another suite of State Rooms is overlooking the Neva. It consists of the Antechamber (1st floor, room 192) and the Large Hall (Hermitage, 191), the former ball-room,—both the rooms used nowadays for the loan and temporary exhibitions regularly held in the Museum,—and the Concert Room (Hermitage, 190), now including the exhibition of Russian silver. This suite is closed up by the Malachite Hall (Hermitage, 189) remarkable for the magnificent malachite of rich green colour, with which the columns and pilasters, mantelpieces and floor-lamps are veneered. The vivid green tone of the malachite is rendered still more striking by the crimson of the furniture and the gold of the raised plaster work — the combination of colours being most characteristic of the aesthetics of the time. The stone, as well as the technique of working it, called Russian mosaic, are typically Russian. About two tons of malachite were used for the decoration of the room, which deserves special mention, the stone being extremely rare.
The room was designed in 1839 by A. Brуullоv, assisted by his pupils A. Gornostayev (1808—1862) and Lvov.
It was in the Malachite Hall that the Provisional Government, which took up residence in the Winter Palace in July 1917, had its sittings. Here on October 25, 1917, the ministers took refuge under the protection of the cadets.
Next to the Malachite Hall is the Small Dining Room where the Provisional Government was arrested by the revolutionary workers, soldiers and sailors during the storming of the Palace in the October Revolution.
Many rooms of the Museum were severely damaged during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 — 1945. It is due to the care of the Soviet Government that the whole architectural complex of the Hermitage has been restored and now, as well as the collections which had been safely preserved, is in the service of the people.