The Hermitage Bridge, St. Petersburg

Watercolour heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic
23.2 by 36.2 cm, 9 ¼ by 14 ½ in.
 
This watercolour was not engraved by Heath for Ritchie’s book but he describes the Hermitage as follows: `The Hermitage, the favourite haunt of Catherine II, when she wished to retire to as much solitude as an Empress surrounded by a brilliant court could desire, is connected with the Winter Palace by a covered gallery. It is now chiefly remarkable as being the repository of a museum of paintings…’ (see Leitch Ritchie, A Journey to St. Petersburg and Moscow through Courland and Livonia, 1836, p.129). The Hermitage Bridge which connects two part of the Hermitage Palace was built in 1763-66.