Alexander Terebenev, “Atlantes”, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
The New Hermitage was the first building in Russia constructed specially to house the museum collections. Emperor Nicholas I invited German architect Leo von Klenze, whose works largely formed the image of the museum architecture in Europe, to come to Russia and build the Imperial Hermitage. Architects Nikolay Yefimov and Vasily Stasov, commissioned to execute Klenze’s project, made some essential changes to it in order to fit the new construction to the existing architectural surroundings.
The entrance to the museum is accentuated with a magnificent portico supported by the Atlantes figures cut from grey granite in the workshop of Alexander Terebenev. Atlantes, also called Atlantean figures, are carved stone support pillars in the shape of fierce men. The building is also decorated with statues and bas-reliefs depicting famous artists, architects and sculptors of the past. Classical, Renaissance and Baroque ornaments enliven the massive surfaces of the building’s facades.