Hermitage Museum opens Poussin exhibition on 14 October

The Hermitage Museum (Gosudarstvenny Ermitazh) in Saint Petersburg will open the exhibition Landscape with Polyphemus on 14 October 2026. The presentation follows the restoration of Nicolas Poussin’s 1649 painting and gives visitors a specific new display to find in Russia during October.

Landscape with Polyphemus opens on 14 October

The exhibition runs from 14 October to 27 December 2026 in the Twelve-Column Hall of the Main Museum Complex. The exhibition title refers to Poussin’s Landscape with Polyphemus, a work whose subject comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

The painting entered the museum’s painting restoration laboratory in January 2025. Conservators strengthened the paint layer and ground, repaired a seam, removed dirt from both sides, transferred the work to a new canvas, reduced and evened the surface varnish, removed later additions and filled areas of lost paint. The October exhibition programme confirms the opening date and hall.

The work was acquired for the museum in 1772 through the mediation of Denis Diderot on behalf of Empress Catherine II. Its restored presentation therefore connects a new visitor event in October 2026 with a painting that entered the imperial collection more than two centuries ago.

The restored Poussin joins a museum opened in 1852

The museum was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great as a court collection and opened to the public in 1852. Its principal complex now occupies five interconnected buildings, including the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage and the Hermitage Theatre.

The Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762, while the wider institution holds nearly three million objects dating from the Stone Age to the present. The Twelve-Column Hall places the Poussin display within the historic museum complex rather than in one of the institution’s branches. Background details on the buildings and collections are recorded by Britannica’s museum history.

The restoration is the practical link between the October programme and the collection’s history: visitors will encounter a work presented after conservation, while the museum’s older rooms provide the setting for that return to display. A separate museum exhibition listing also records the 14 October to 27 December period.

Visiting Hermitage Museum: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The exhibition opens on 14 October 2026 and remains scheduled through 27 December 2026 in the Twelve-Column Hall of the Main Museum Complex.
• The October programme identifies the restored painting as the exhibition subject; no separate change to the wider museum access is stated in the checked programme.
• The venue is the Main Museum Complex of the Hermitage Museum on Palace Square in central Saint Petersburg, within the historic group of buildings that includes the Winter Palace.
• The museum is in Russia, where Russian is the official language and the national currency is the Russian rouble.
• Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.

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Frequently asked questions about Hermitage Museum

When does Landscape with Polyphemus take place at Hermitage Museum?

The exhibition opens on 14 October 2026 and runs until 27 December 2026 in the Twelve-Column Hall of the Main Museum Complex.

What is Hermitage Museum?

It is an art museum founded in 1764 and opened to the public in 1852, housed principally in five interconnected historic buildings in Saint Petersburg.

Where is Hermitage Museum and how do you get there?

The Main Museum Complex is on Palace Square in central Saint Petersburg, within the historic ensemble that includes the Winter Palace.