The State Hermitage Youth Education Center sculpture and architecture, Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design). This educational program includes meetings with curators of exhibitions, conferences and masterclasses conducted by artists. Recent programs for the exhibitions: On February 1, 2013 The Youth Center launched a new and unique program, "Museum and small museologist", thanks to the initiative of St. Petersburg State University’s Philosophy Department and approved by Director of The Hermitage. This program is directed to students 9 to 11 years old and strives to show them how a contemporary art museum works and what its employees do. During the academic year, the students
Hermitage Museum art: "Venus disarming Mars" by Rubens was once in the collection of the Rheinsberg Palace in Berlin, and was apparently looted by Soviet troops from the Königsberg Castle in East Prussia in 1945. At the time, Mikhail Piotrovsky said the painting would be cleaned and displayed. The museum announced in July 2006, that 221 minor items, including jewelry, Orthodox icons, silverware and richly enameled objects, had been stolen. The value of the stolen items was estimated to be approximately $543,000 but by the end of 2006 several of the stolen items were recovered. In recent years, the Hermitage launched several