The following images represent a fraction of the Hermitage Museum’s collection of Italian paintings, executed between the 13th and the 18th centuries. The majority of the museums holdings, from various Italian schools, occupies thirty of the institutions exhibition spaces and is overseen by their Department of Western European Art.
The museum’s initial collection can be traced back to 1764, when a Berlin merchant, Johann Ernest Gotzkowsky donated several paintings (mainly Dutch and Flemish works) in lieu of his debt to the Russian treasury. Since then, the collection has been expanded by various purchases, donations and bequests. The origins of the artworks reproduced here (prior to the museum’s ownership of the original works) are detailed below, in addenda to the image references.
References: Boris Piotrovsky ed., Treasures of the Hermitage, Studio Editions, London, 1987.
“Italian Paintings of the 13th – 18th Centuries,” The State Hermitage Museum Website. Available at
https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/explore/collections/master/sub/1252188278/?lng=
Images: Leonardo da Vinci, The Madonna and Child (The Litta Madonna), c.1490, oil on canvas (transferred from panel), 41 x 33 cm. Received by the museum in 1865 from the Duke A. Litta Collection, Milan. Web Gallery of Art.
Francesco Pesellino, An Allegory of Rome, c.1448, gouache and gold on parchment with black pen and watercolour, 28.7 x 20.2 cm. Received by the museum in 1491 from Venice. Wikimedia Commons.
Filippino Lippi, The Adoration of the Infant Christ, 1480-1483, oil on copper (transferred from panel), diameter 53 cm. Received by the museum in 1911 from the Count P. Stroganov Collection, St. Petersburg. Wikimedia Commons.
Leonardo da Vinci, The Madonna with a Flower (The Benois Madonna), c.1478, oil on canvas (transferred from panel), 49.5 x 31.5 cm. Received by the museum in 1914 from the M. Benois Collection, Petrograd. Web Gallery of Art.
Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (Giorgione), Judith, c, 1504, oil on canvas (transferred from panel), 144 x 66.5 cm. Recieved by the museum in 1772 from the P. Crozat Collection, Paris. Wikimedia Commons.
Raphael Santi, The Madonna and Child (The Conestabile Madonna), 1504, tempera on canvas (transferred from panel), 17.5 x 18 cm. Received by the museum in 1881. Formerly of the Winter Palace Collection, St. Petersburg. Web Gallery of Art.
Paolo Cagliari (Veronese), Pietà, 1581, oil on canvas, 147 x 115 cm. Received by the museum in 1772 from the P. Crozat Collection, Paris. Web Gallery of Art.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Caravaggio), The Lute Player, c.1600, oil on canvas, 94 x 119 cm. Received by the museum in 1808 from the Giustiniani Collection, Paris. Wikimedia Commons.
Annibale Carracci, The Three Marys at the Tomb, 1590s, oil on canvas, 121 x 145.5 cm. Received by the museum from te W. Coesvelt Collection, London. Wikimedia Commons.
Titsiano Vecellio (Titian), St. Sebastian, c.1570, oil on canvas, 210 x 115 cm. Received by the museum in 1850 from the Barbarigo Collection, Venice. Wikimedia Commons.
Posted by Samantha Hughes-Johnson.