The exhibition "Prado in the Hermitage" was opened by the President of Russia and the Spanish royal couple

The opening ceremony of the Prado in the Hermitage exhibition, which launched the year of the exchange of cultural events between Russia and Spain, was held with the active participation of the Spanish King Juan Carlos and his wife Queen Sofia.

An agreement on cooperation, as well as on the holding of the Prado in the Hermitage exhibitions in St. Petersburg and the Hermitage Masterpieces in Madrid, was signed a few days ago between representatives The Hermitage , National Museum of the Prado and the State Society for the Development of Culture of Spain (Sociedad Estatal de Accion Cultural).

The exhibition in St. Petersburg, which opened yesterday and runs until May 29, 2011, features about sixty-six paintings by Italian, Spanish and Flemish artists of great artistic and historical value. As for the masterpieces of the Hermitage, they can be seen in Madrid at the end of this year (from November 8, 2011 to March 26, 2012). Visitors to the Prado National Museum will be able to see about 170 objects of art from the collections of the famous Hermitage, not only paintings, but also sculptures, drawings, as well as decorative and applied arts. The collection is one of the largest in the world, covering the period from the 5th century BC to the 20th century.

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg is one of the most significant and impressive museums in the world. The main building of the majestic Hermitage, spread out on the banks of the Neva River, is the Winter Palace, which in the 18th century served as the residence of Empress Catherine II. The museum has a rich collection of art from the time of the Pharaohs and the Greco-Roman period, masterpieces of the Renaissance, the works of the most significant representatives of neoclassical sculpture, as well as the famous works of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

The exhibition, which will be held in Prado, will give art lovers a unique chance to see such museum treasures as the legendary “Scythian gold”, masterpieces of decorative and applied art, and most valuable works of graphic art, sculpture and painting. Both exhibitions, in the Prado and the Hermitage, are designed in such a way as to present a whole historical panorama to the viewer, to give him the opportunity to experience the importance of collecting works of art by the royal people of both countries.

Among the most significant “Hermitage Masterpieces” that will come to Madrid in November are: “Saint Sebastian” by Titian and “Saint Sebastian” by Ribera, “Lutenist” Caravaggio, “Portrait of a Scientist” and “Aman Recognizes His Fate” by Rembrant, as well as no less famous works of Dürer, Rubens, Watteau and Ingres. The sculpture is represented by such masterpieces as Ecstasy of St. Theresa ”by a 17th-century master Lorenzo Bernini and“ Penitent Mary Magdalene ”by Italian sculptor Antonio Canova. In addition, the Spanish public will be presented the works of the Impressionists and post-Impressionists: Monet, Cézan, Renoir, Gauguin, as well as the best of Matisse’s works, in particular, “Skittles” and “Conversation”.

The exposition will also include three paintings by Pablo Picasso, including “Sitting Woman” and “Absinthe Lover,” as well as two works by Russian avant-garde artists - “Composition VI” by Vasily Kandinsky and “Black Square” by Malevich.

Among the archaeological exhibits of the exhibition, it is worth mentioning the Scythian crest with the image of a battle scene (late V - early IV century BC) and a collection of ancient gold items, known as the Siberian collection of Peter I. Decorative art will be represented by masterpieces of jewelry, such as a sword adorned with silver and precious stones, which in the 18th century, the Indian ambassador presented as a gift to the Russian Tsar, as well as a rock crystal vase decorated with gold and diamonds, the work of Karl Faberge (1846-1920).

Video from the opening ceremony of the exhibition

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