The Fate of One Collection
500 Carved Stones from the Collection of Duke of Orleans

On October 30, 2001 an exhibition entitled "The Fate of One Collection: 500 Carved Stones Of the Collection of Duke of Orleans" opened in the Golden Room of the Winter Palace. The exhibition continues the series of temporary exhibits dedicated to famous European collections, the foundation of the Hermitage art collections.

The exhibition showcases 500 gemmae, dating from 4th century B.C. to mid 18th century, which represents one-third of the collection of the Dukes of Orleans. In 1787 Catherine the Great ordered to acquire from Louis Phillipe Joseph of Orleans the collection of 1500 gemmae of the familial collection of the Dukes of Orleans, representatives of the junior branch of the French royal dynasty.

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Vladimir Matveev, Deputy Director of the Hermitage

Vladimir Matveev, Deputy Director of the Hermitage and Yulia Kagan, one of the curators of the exhibition, at the opening ceremony

Oleg Neverov, one of the exhibition's curators, talks about the exhibits