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Spanish Paintings from Hermitage, St. Petersburg

From the original Art on Stamps archive

The most important of the Hermitage's 150 canvases by Spanish artists are displayed in the Small Skylight Room and the nearby Spanish Room in the New Hermitage. Among the 16th-century paintings, the work that attracts considerable attention is El Greco's The Apostles Peter and Paul (late 1580s). Works by Ribera, Zurbaran, Velazquez, the most outstanding artists of the 17th century - the "Golden Age" of Spanish painting - give the collection particular significance.

The central figure in the "Golden Age" was Diego Velazquez, represented here by one of his early works, Luncheon (1630s), and by Portrait of Count Olivares (about 1640), an outstanding piece of great charm and force. Tip: Point on the stamps with the mouse index for more information about the works of art displayed .

Thirteen paintings by Murillo provide an unusually clear portrait of artist, whose work marked the culmination of 17th-century Spanish art.

Monumental canvases such as the paired Isaac Blessing Jacob and Jacob's Ladder (1665-1670) and The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1665-1670), contrast with the more intimate genre painting, Boy with a Dog (1650).

The fine Portrait of Antonia Zarate (about 1811) reveals the skill of Francisco de Goya, the leading Spanish painter in the late 18th and early 19th c. This portrait is the only painting by Goya in the collection.