Bolʹshaia t︠s︡erkovʹ Zimnego dvort︠s︡a

Today's Hermitage Museum grew out of the palace built for the Russian imperial family in the 1750s, a central part of which was the church that Rastrelli incorporated into the palace. In the gilded and carved details of its walls and iconostasis, the Hermitag's Large Church typifies the baroque as that style took shape in Russia. In the painted ceiling and icons Russian, Italian, and French painters worked side by side, and the tension between Russian Orthodox styles and those of Western Europe created a unique amalgam of religious art. During the restoration after the fire of 1838 Emperor Nicholas I charged V.P. Stasov with faithful restoration of the originals, for which Stasov enlisted such artists as P.V. Basin, K.P. Briullov, and F.A. Bruni. -- Summary written by John W. Emerich, Bronze Horseman Literary Agency.