Hermitage Amsterdam

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Hermitage aan de Amstel

Hans-Peter Harmsen

The first phase of the Hermitage Amsterdam will open to the public on 28 February 2004. Small temporary exhibitions drawn from the rich collection of The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg will be presented in six rooms. Each exhibition will be on view for around 5 months. For the inaugural exhibition the finest Greek gold jewellery from the treasure rooms of the Hermitage will be coming to Amsterdam. This Greek gold was found during various expeditions to the Black Sea, where there were Greek colonies. This spectacular jewellery dates from the 6th to the 2nd century BC. In the Olympic year 2004 more than 100 precious items from the rich treasury of the Hermitage will be on view in Amsterdam. They are examples of fine craftsmanship executed in bracelets, earrings, necklaces and spectacular golden wreaths. Later in 2004 there will be an exhibition on the life and the collections of the last Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas and Alexandra, followed in 2005 by an exhibition on Venetian painting with masterpieces by Tintoretto, Guardi, Canaletto and Tiepolo. The exhibitions in Hermitage Amsterdam will explore the themes of anthropology, history and art.

The Neerlandia Building is the first phase of the master plan for the Hermitage Amsterdam. By the end of 2007 the whole Amstelhof will be in use by the Hermitage Amsterdam, with a total exhibition floor space of over 4,000 m². The cost of renovating the Neerlandia Building will be 4 million euro, and the whole plan has a building budget of 39 million euro. The costs will be met with the aid of the sponsor, the Sponsor Loterij, and the subsidising bodies, the Province of North Holland, the City of Amsterdam and the W.E. Jansen Fund.