Short answers, pulled from the story.
The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and it holds the largest collection of paintings in the world. Its collections include over three million items, of which only a small part is on permanent display.
The Hermitage Museum's collection was founded in 1764 by Empress Catherine the Great, who acquired paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The museum celebrates its founding each year on the 7th of December, Saint Catherine's Day.
The Hermitage has been open to the public since 1852. The New Hermitage, the building Nicholas I commissioned for a public museum, opened on the 5th of February 1852.
The Hermitage occupies six historic buildings along the Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage, the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage, and the Hermitage Theatre. It has also expanded to the General Staff Building and the Menshikov Palace.
The Hermitage holds Rembrandt's Danaë, painted in 1636, the Benois Madonna and Madonna Litta attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, and works by Raphael, Titian, Van Gogh, and Matisse. Its classical highlights include the Tauride Venus and the Kolyvan Vase.
Mikhail Piotrovsky has been the director of the Hermitage Museum since July 1992. His father, Boris Piotrovsky, directed the museum from 1964 to 1990.
The Hermitage drew 2,812,913 visitors in 2022, which placed it tenth on the list of the most visited art museums. Entrance is free on the third Thursday of every month, and free daily for students and children.