The definitivevolumes celebrating the collections of the Hermitage Museum. For nearly 250years the State Hermitage has been one of Europe’s most palatial museums. Itencompasses more than three million works of art and artifacts displayed withina spectacular architectural ensemble, the heart of which is the famed WinterPalace. The two volumes of The HermitageCollections capture the masterpieces and discuss the historythat make this world-famous institution a cultural destination and a globaltreasure. Many of its rarely reproduced works are included in these twovolumes, such as The Raphael Loggias (as copied from the Vatican),Michelangelo’s Crouching Boy, The Gonzaga Cameo, Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonnawith a Flower (The Benois Madonna), and Titian’s St. Sebastian. The Hermitagecollections were developed beginning in 1764 by Catherine the Great, Empress ofRussia. Today, the Hermitage collections constitute one of the great artmuseums of the world.