The jubilee festivities underscored the importance of the Hermitage in the national culture.
St. George Hall of the Winter Palace. 1960s
In 1964 the museum formally celebrated its 200th anniversary. The Hermitage was awarded the Order of Lenin “for the museum staff’s major contribution to the aesthetic education of the workers”. Public figures, scholars, artists, museum workers, representatives of the city’s industrial enterprises and delegates from foreign museum brought their greetings.
The jubilee was marked by a scholarly conference at which 69 papers were presented. The main themes were the significance of the Hermitage in Russian and Soviet culture, the history of the Hermitage picture gallery and the museum’s contributions in research and education. Two thematic exhibitions were organized - “The Hermitage after the Great October Socialist Revolution” and “The Hermitage in Drawings, Watercolours and Blueprints of the 18th and 19th centuries” - which presented the museum buildings, the results of archaeological researches and material on the history of the museum.
There was a special significance to the exhibition entitled “Western European Painting of the 14th and 15th Centuries” from the museums of the Soviet Union. This major display of masterpieces in the St George Hall of the Winter Palace underlined the Hermitage’s importance in the cultural life of the country.
