Many dream of visiting one of the most famous Russian museums of fine and decorative arts.
Sometimes a traveler is in St. Petersburg on the way and he cannot walk around the Hermitage all day, but you still want to admire the main exhibits.
In our article you can read about the most famous paintings of the Hermitagethat are definitely worth seeing live while in the cultural capital of our homeland.
List
- 10. Lady in Blue, Gainsborough
- 9. Woman holding a fetus, Gauguin
- 8. The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt
- 7. Lute player (Young man with a lute), Caravaggio
- 6. Dance, Matisse
- 5. Madonna Litta, Leonardo Da Vinci (or his student)
- 4. Madonna Benoit, Leonardo Da Vinci
- 3. Black Square, Malevich
- 2. Danae, Titian
- 1. Composition VI, Kandinsky
10. Lady in Blue, Gainsborough
In Russia, there is only one painting by the famous English artist Thomas Gainsborough, and this is a portrait of “A Lady in Blue”. A painting was painted in the period of the 1770s or the beginning of the 1880s.
Some researchers of the artist's work suggested that the portrait depicts the Duchess Elizabeth Beaufort.
It is believed that the portrait of the famous lady was painted by the painter during the heyday of his work. It was at this time that his brush created a number of female portraits, similar in style to the famous Flemish artist Van Dyck.
For reference: the picture shows a beautiful lady dressed in a white dress, in a light hat, decorated with ostrich feathers and ribbons, a hairstyle of highly whipped and powdered hair, a golden cross hangs on the lady's chest, and on the hand holding a falling blue scarf there is a bracelet.
9. Woman holding a fetus, Gauguin
The painting was painted by French artist Paul Gauguin in 1893. Researchers of the artist's work believe that he wrote it after his visit to Tahiti.
Interesting fact: the canvas was purchased by a merchant from Moscow I.A. Morozov, until the end of the 1940s. it was in his private collection.
According to the plot of the picture, a small Tahitian settlement is opened to the viewer, on the canvas are two huts, not far from which are two local residents sitting attentively looking at the author.
In the foreground of the canvas, the painter depicted a woman holding a fruit, resembling mango in appearance and form.
The Tahitian look is piercing and attentive, the clothes are plain, only the hips are wrapped in a cloth of juicy red color with bright golden patterns.
8. The Return of the Prodigal Son, Rembrandt
The Dutch artist often turned to biblical subjects in his works, his painting “The Return of the Prodigal Son” was also written on the basis of the plot of the parable from the New Testament.
Work on the canvas was allegedly carried out in the 1660s. The picture depicts the last scene of a biblical parable, the eyes of the viewer see a young man kneeling before his father, or rather his view from the back and his father gently hugging him.
The painter was able to depict in detail the fall of the prodigal son, his clothes are battered, it is clear that the young man met many failures on his way.
In addition to the main characters in the picture, there are four more. Researchers interpret them differently, someone says that they are brothers and sisters of the prodigal son, and someone believes that the artist depicted in these figures the previous images of the father and son before parting.
7. Lute player (Young man with a lute), Caravaggio
This canvas belongs to the early works of a famous Italian artist. Caravaggio painted three versions of this picture and considered it one of the best fruits of his work. Researchers of the paintings of the painter believe that “Lute player” was written around the 1590s.
The canvas depicts a young man, almost a boy with soft dark-colored curls and delicate facial features. He plays the lute.
In the version of the canvas, which is stored in the Hermitage, the notes of the Flemish composer Jacob Arkadelt’s bass part are recognized on the opened pages of the score.
The tones of the picture are quite dark, only one ray of light is noticeable. The young man is dressed in white clothes, next to him is a vase of flowers.
Interesting fact: researchers of the artist believe that the picture is a symbolic image of love and harmony.
6. Dance, Matisse
The painting was created by a French artist in 1910.
Researchers of the artist’s work believed that the plot of the canvas was suggested to him by folk dances, which he could see while in Collioure or images on Greek vases, as well as “Russian Seasons” by Sergey Pavlovich Diaghilev (Russian art and theater figure).
The artist painted a round dance of naked people on the canvas.
5. Madonna Litta, Leonardo Da Vinci (or his student)
The painting was painted in the early 1490s, it is attributed to the brush of the Italian painter Leonardo Da Vinci. Some researchers believe that the painting was painted by one of the students of the great artist.
In the picture, the viewer can see a woman feeding a baby. The image was bright and imaginative. It is believed that the painter painted a picture for the Milan aristocracy.
Interesting fact: Initially, the painting was called "Madonna and Child."
4. Madonna Benoit, Leonardo Da Vinci
This painting belongs to one of the artist’s early works, researchers believe that he painted it in the 1470s. The canvas has another name - "Madonna with a Flower."
The picture depicts a young Madonna with a baby in her arms. They are located in a dark room, the source of light is only a small window.
The painter dressed the young woman in the outfits worn by his contemporaries, and her hairstyle also corresponded to the fashion of his time.
Playing with her son, the mother held out a crucifer flower to him, and the child depicted on the canvas happily reaches out to him.
The plot of the picture was to the taste of many other artists, so similar canvases can be found in other painters.
3. Black Square, Malevich
The picture was created by a Russian avant-garde artist in 1915, from that time until now it is one of the paintings of paintings discussed in the world. Not everyone can understand the value of his work.
This work is considered suprematist. Suprematism, as a direction of fine art, began to develop actively on the basis of cubofuturism and cubism.
Interesting fact: The original name of the painting is "Quadrangle".
In addition to this picture, the artist also created two more supermatic squares, that is, white and red.
2. Danae, Titian
The Italian painter painted this picture in the 1550s. The plot of the canvas dates back to Greek mythology. In accordance with him, King Acrisius, having learned that he faces death from the son of his daughter - Danai, imprisoned her.
But even there Zeus finds her, whom she fell in love with for her beauty. From the Greek god, the princess subsequently gave birth to a son Perseus.
The picture has a rather erotic character, it depicts a completely naked woman with curvaceous forms lying on the bed, the whole image of which is penetrated by languor and heat.
1. Composition VI, Kandinsky
Russian artist stood at the origins of abstractionism. One of his most interesting works was Composition VI, written in 1913.
The founder of the Blue Horseman group independently gave explanations to his canvas. He said that on it the viewer can see two centers.
To the left of the center of the picture we see a pale pink background with blurry and vague lines, and to the right is red-blue, which has sharp, precise, strong lines.
Between these two centers, the artist said, there is a third, which is the main one, here you can see pink, white shades.
Fans of abstract art can see on the canvas a new self-sounding song, similar to a hymn that follows a catastrophe.