Soviet Medal – History of the Hermitage Buildings, St. Petersburg – ca. 1960s
Obverse:
View of a section of the Hermitage, framed by two Atlantes (muscular male caryatids) supporting the cornice. The design shows the monumental style of the New Hermitage entrance on Millionnaya Street. Architectural realism in deep relief.
Reverse:
Stylized elevation drawings of all five Hermitage buildings with corresponding dates of construction, in Cyrillic:
ЗИМНИЙ ДВОРЕЦ (Winter Palace) – 1754–1762
СТАРЫЙ ЭРМИТАЖ (Old Hermitage) – 1771–1787
МАЛЫЙ ЭРМИТАЖ (Small Hermitage) – 1764–1775
ЭРМИТАЖНЫЙ ТЕАТР (Hermitage Theater) – 1783–1787
НОВЫЙ ЭРМИТАЖ (New Hermitage) – 1842–1851
Architect’s monogram below.
Historical context:
This medallion commemorates the architectural development of the State Hermitage Museum, one of the world’s largest and oldest art museums. The Atlantes façade depicted on the obverse was designed by Leo von Klenze and built for the New Hermitage (1842–1851). The reverse traces the chronological growth of the Hermitage complex under the Russian Empire. Likely issued in the Soviet period during a museum jubilee or cultural campaign.
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