THE COMMUNION OF THE APOSTLES
Constantinople, c.1300-1330
Panel (cypress) with raised borders, egg tempera on gesso, 38x34 cm
Acquired in 1932 from the State History Museum, Moscow. Earlier it had been in the Roumyantsev Museum which had received it from the collection of the Muravyov family.

Represented in the foreground of the icon are the Apostles James the son of Alphaeus, Peter, John, and Matthew; behind them are Philip, Bartholomew, Judah, Andrew, Matthias, Simon, Thadaeus, and Thomas. The figure of St.Andrew is prominent in the center for he is believed to have been the first Bishop of Constantinople. The high artistic quality of the icon betrays the hand of a metropolitan master who worked in the time of the Palaeologi dynasty — the period usually referred to as the Palaeologue Renaissance. The experts point to the similarity of the composition and the modeling of the faces to the famous wall paintings of the Kahriyeh Djami monastery in Constantinople.

Circa 1282-1344. Siena school
MARY MAGDALENE. EARLY 1320
Panel, tempera, gilded 65,3*48,6 cm.
Received in 1909. Donation by M.S.Shchekin. Purchased.

Together with the Museum's "St.Augustine" originally they were in Italy part of the altar polyptich. According to the Bible Mary Magdalene was one of the followers of Christ who was present at his crucifixion and burial. The latest years of her life spent in desert in repentance. The vessel in her hand indicates her mission. This work had been attributed to Lippo Memmi, a pupil of Simone Martin, but the high skill of the artist allows us to conclude that the master participated in the work.

Italian (Florentine) school
THE ANNUNCIATION, 1490
The two-paneled composition
Tempera on Canvas, 45*13 each panel
Received in 1928 from the State Hermitage
originates from Stroganov's collection.

Two panels depicting Mary and the Archangel Gabriel in an old XVI century frame make a unique scene of Annunciation. Both panels were apparently part of an altarpiece, possibly of a small-sized polyptich. The style of the late period of Botticelli's works is felt in the inspired "quivering" lines and sharp colour combination.

German school
MADONNA AND CHILD. C. 1525
Oil on panel, 58*46 cm.
Received in 1930 from the State Hermitage
Purchased for the Hermitage in 1825

"Madonna and Child" belongs to mature Cranach who was the major artist of the German Northern Renaissance. The painting reached us somewhat incomplete — the right-hand part of the composition has been lost and the lower part of the panel hewed off so that Mary's figure appears moved to one side. However the existing fragment demonstrates subtlety and beauty of Cranach's style.

Italian School (Italy)
THE HOLY FAMILY WITH ST.JOHN THE BAPTIST
Oil on canvas (transformed from panel), 117*99 cm.
Received in 1932 from the State Antiquary,
formerly belonged to Stroganov Museum in Leningrad.

Bronzino made several paintings on the same religious theme, the Museum's version is the earliest of them, it may be dated by 1540. The works of Bronzino serve an excellent example of Mannerism. The composition of the painting is rather complicated, complex rhythm of silhouettes and draperies make a rhythm of an arabesque.

Оne of the largest divisions of the Museum's Picture Gallery presents painting of the XVII — XVIII centuries. The leading artistic schools of this period — those of Netherlands, Flandres, Italy, Spain, France — make a representative and rich collection. On display are works by Rembrandt, Ruisdael, Rubens and Jordaens, Canaletto and Guardi, Zurbaran and Murillo, Poussin and Boucher.

Dutch school
ARTAXERXES, HAMAN, AND ESTHER
Oil on canvas, 73x94 cm
Acquired 1924 from the Roumyantsev Museum

This is one of the best creations of Rembrandt's late period. The subject is an episode from the Book of Esther (the Old Testament): Esther exposes before her royal husband King Artaxerxes (Ahasuerus) the wily schemes of his courtier Haman aiming to destroy the entire community of the Jews. The dramatic conflict between the three persons is expressed through their restrained but eloquent gestures. The scene has a tense atmosphere of suspense. The figure of Esther is radiant, her robe with a long train is gleaming as if with precious stones. Haman is immersed in the shadows. Rembrandt achieves great depth in rendering the inner life, the spiritual energy of his characters.

Dutch school
BREAKFAST, 1646
Oil on panel, 60x84 cm
Acquired 1924 from the Museum of Old Western Painting. Before 1918 had been in the collection of D.I.Shchukin.

In his relatively small paintings Claesz represented objects used in daily life, often modest and unpretentious. He skillfully conveyed a sense of their inner animation, of their close link with the atmosphere of reality. His favorite motif was breakfast — a table laid with silver dishes, a tall glass, a loaf of bread, a lemon. Each object in the picture has its own character, a strongly pronounced structure and material nature. The crumpled white napkin, the crisp bread crust, the gleaming silver and glass — all convincingly rendered by the artist.

French school
RINALDO AND ARMIDA, 1625-1626
Oil on canvas, 95x133 cm
Acquired 1930 from the Hermitage

The subject is borrowed from "Jerusalem Delivered" by Torquato Tasso (Italian poet of the XVI century). The enchantress Armida puts to sleep the young knight Rinaldo who is out on a crusade. She is about to kill him, but charmed with his beauty she falls in love with him and carries him off to her enchanted gardens. Poussin, the leading figure of the classicism trend, treats the medieval legend as a classical myth. The balanced composition, the rhythmic unity are, as usual, his hallmarks. The color scheme bears some influence of Titian under whose spell Poussin was in those years. The picture is pair to "Tancred and Herminia" kept in the Hermitage, St.Petersburg.

French school
HERCULES AND OMPHALE
oil on canvas, 90*74 cm.
Received in 1930 from the State Hermitage,
formerly in Yusupov's palace in Leningrad.

The leading artist of French Rococo used for his painting the antic myth about Hercules who was sold into slavery and condemned to serve the Lydian Queen Omphale. Fallen in love with the Queen Hercules forgot of his deeds and was ready to fulfil her every wish. This early work by Boucher was painted under the influence of Rubens with his full-blooded and temperamental style.

Italian school
VENETIAN COURTYARD
Oil on canvas, 38x26 cm
Acquired 1924 from the Museum of Old Western Painting. Before 1918 had been in the collection of D.I.Shchukin.

A special place in the Venetian and all European painting is held by Guardi's capriccios — his fantasies on the themes of Venice in which his love of his native city is entwined with the poignant sense of flitting time. This poetic aura imbues the Venetian courtyard in this picture. The limited space filled with dilapidated buildings and scenes of daily life is strangely dynamic involving the spectator in its depth accentuated by the figures of by-passers seen from the back — the man in a blue cloak and the group near the arch.

Italian (Venetian) school
BETROTHAL OF THE VENETIAN DOGE WITH THE ADRIATIC SEA, c. 1730s
Oil on canvas, 182x259 cm
Acquired 1930 from the Hermitage

Аntonio Canaletto, the master of the veduta, depicted here the Grand Canal on the Ascension Day — the traditional Venetian festival when the Doge went out to sea to throw a gold ring in its waves, which was supposed to be beneficial to seafarers. The view includes the famous sights of Venice — the Palace of the Doges, St.Mark's belfry, and the Sansovino library.

English school
VIEW OF HIGHGATE, c.1830
Oil on cardboard, 24x30 cm
Acquired 1928 from the State Museum Fund

In 1826 Constable bought a house in Hampstead near London where he lived the last ten years of his life and painted dozens of studies. This is one of them, probably done in a few hours' work in the open. It combines his characteristic qualities: keen observation, fresh outlook, ability to elevate the concrete view to a generalized poetic image. His manner is free, with unexpected flashes of white, his thick paint applied in broad strokes enhances the immediacy of visual perception.

French school
HAY WAGON, c. 1860
Oil on canvas, 32x45 cm
Acquired 1924 from the Roumyantsev Museum.

The picture belongs to the highest flourishing of Corot's creative powers. The humble motif — a cart on the wet road running through a field — is felt by the artist as a poetic image. All is shimmering and sparkling in this modest nook of nature: the rain-drenched land and air, the flitting clouds, the trees fluttering in the wind. The light dynamic brush strokes render the fluid life of nature with great precision. Corot's painting is, above all, an art of valeurs — nuances and shades of the same color. The artist avoids bright and bold tones preferring silvery grays and golden browns. The result is an exquisitely refined color gamut.

French school
ANDROMACHE LAMENTING HECTOR, 1783
Oil on canvas, 58x43 cm
Acquired 1924 from the Hermitage.

The subject of this sketch for the large canvas possessed by the Louvre comes from Homer's Iliad: Hector, the valorous leader of the Trojans who was slayed in single combat by Achilles, is bitterly lamented by his devoted wife Andromache. With a theatrical gesture she points to the body of the hero who gave his life for his native city. The painting had an obvious public and political connotation: the cult of fatherland was preferred in the pre-revolution France to the idea of serving the royal power. The composition is marked with simple clarity, the light and shade modeling is weighty and distinct. Great care is given to the authenticity of the environment.

French school
BOULEVARD DE CAPUCINES, PARIS 1873
Oil on canvas, 61x80 cm.
Acquired 1948 from the State Museum of New Western Art; before 1918 had been in the collection of I.A.Morozov in Moscow.

Painted in 1873, the work was presented at the first exhibition of the impressionists held in Paris, in the studio of their friend — photographer Nadar. It was on that occasion that the group earned its appellation — impressionists derived by the critic Louis Leroi from the title of Monet's picture: Impression. Soleil levant.
Landscape had a special place in the work of the impressionists, including urban views which were turned by them into a separate genre. The composition of this painting may seem hap-hazard, but, in fact, it results from a deliberately chosen unexpected angle which leaves a sense of natural, "uncomposed" sighting. The "frame" chosen by Monet captures very well the character of a crowded Parisian street. The manner is typically impressionistic: light little strokes of pure color, miscellaneous in form, building up an image seen at a distance.

French school
NUDE, 1876
Oil on canvas, 92x73 cm
Acquired 1948 from the State Museum of New Western Art.

Кhe picture representing a young woman has been known under different titles: Etude, Baigneuse, or Nue. The artist relishes in it the charm of his model — her tender, translucent skin, her voluptuous curves, her blue eyes, her soft silky hair. All those qualities are rendered through color, its endless wealth of nuances and subtle shades, its luminosity and radiance.

French school
BLUE DANCERS, late 1890s
Pastel on paper, 65x65 cm
Acquired 1948 from the State Museum of New Western Art; before 1918 had been in the collection of S.I.Shchukin in Moscow.

Being an accomplished draughtsman, Degas was fond of crayons. Throughout his career he was particularly interested in rendering movement: in this drawing he projects its sequence in time showing its different phases. The poetic expression of the composition is attained by the eloquent line, the magic rhythm, and the shimmering blue color. This is a work of Degas' late period when his eyesight had been weakened forcing him to operate in large color patches, his main concern being the decorative organization of the pictorial surface.

French school
PIERROT AND HARLEQUIN (MARDI-GRAS), 1888-1890
Oil on canvas, 102*81 cm.
Received in 1948 from the State Museum of Modern Western Art. Until 1918 in the collection of S.I.Shchukin in Moscow.

The painting depicts characters of the Mardi-Gras Carnivals Pierrot and Harlequin. The son of the artist Paul (Harlequin) and his friend Louis Guillaume (Pierrot) served as models. With striking plasticity Cezanne presents the juxtaposition of characters, finds versatile expression in the supple figure and the springy gait of the Herlequin and relaxed pose of Pierrot as if cast from brittle substance. The material volume of the characters is convincingly proved by the colours of the painting.

Dutch school
PORTRAIT OF DR.REY, 1889
Oil on canvas, 64x53 cm
Acquired 1948 from the State Museum of New Western Art; before 1918 had been in the collection of S.I.Shchukin in Moscow.

As a compatriot and an admirer of the great Dutch portrait painters — Rembrandt and Hals, Van Gogh believed that the future of pictorial art belonged to the genre of portrait. While portraying Dr.Rey of the Arles hospital who showed so much compassion to the sick artist, Van Gogh emphasized his kind and sympathetic nature. The bright color in the major key expressed his admiration for the model: Van Gogh always interpreted color symbolically.

French school
THE KING'S WIFE, 1896
Oil on canvas, 97*130 cm.
Received from the State Museum of Modern Western Art. Until 1918 — in the collection of S.J.Shchukin in Moscow.

The "King's Wife" was painted by Gauguin during his second stay in Tahiti. The Tahitian Eve holding behind her head a red fan — an attribute of royalty next to whom old men are discussing the tree of knowledge is depicted in a pose resembling "Venus of Urbino" by Titian or "Olympia" by Manet. The stealing beast with his burning eyes is as enigmatic as a woman. The paints are solemn and resounding interlaced in a bright decorative patterns. In a letter to his friend Daniel de Monfred the artist has written … " It seems to me that in terms of colour I've never done anything else with such strong and moving tonalities".

French school
RED FISH, 1912
Oil on canvas, 140x98 cm
Acquired 1948 from the State Museum of New Western Art; before 1918 had been in the collection of S.I.Shchukin in Moscow.

The picture was painted in the artist's studio in Issy-les-Moulineau near Paris where it was bought by S.I.Shchukin. Matisse often returned to this motif, but of all his paintings with aquarium fish this one is probably the best. Having abandoned light-and-shade modeling, the artist concentrated on the general decorative effect of the composition. He made it all the more striking by using the reverse perspective which he had borrowed from medieval painting, from the Persian miniature, and also from the ancient Russian icons and frescoes seen by him on his visit to Russia in 1911.

Spanish school (of Spanish origin)
THE GIRL ON A BALL, 1905
Oil on canvas. 147*95 cm.
Received in 1948 from the State Museum of Modern Western Art, Until 1918 — in the collection of I.A.Morozov in Moscow.

The painting with the figures and landscape in pinkish-blue tones is one of the central works of the "pink" period of Picasso's art. The artist is depicting the world of wandering troupe of acrobats. The juxtaposition of a young gymnast and the motionless powerful athlete sitting on a massive cube — the favourite theme of Picasso's "pink" period: warm feelings of friendship, inwardly bound for unity among artists engaged in heavy labour.

Russian school.
IMPROVISATION No.20, 1911
Acquired 1948 from the State Museum of New Western Art.

Кandinsky was among the pioneers of non-objective, or abstract art. In the late 1910s he produced his first abstract works called impressions, improvisations, or compositions. To one of those titles he usually added the number, thus enabling the critic to trace the evolution of his style. Kandinsky had come to abstract art as a result of his assessment of the culture of romanticism. He felt a need to express some universal spirituality through the medium of painting. However, that spirituality, in his understanding, could not be embodied in concrete real forms, but only in abstract images in which he sought an analogy to musical impressions.