2-588-377 - The Photo Collector/Heritage Images

Winter Palace, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia, 2011. Designed by the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli as the winter resisence of the Empress Elizabeth, the distinctive green and white Baroque Winter Palace was built between 1754 and 1762. It continued to serve as the winter seat of the Russian Royal Family until the February Revolution of 1917, after which it was used as the headquarters of the Provisional Government. The storming of the palace by the Bolsheviks marked the beginning of the October Revolution. Today the Winter Palace forms part of the Hermitage Museum, housing the largest collection of art in the world.