Military Gallery of the Winter Palace Facts for Kids

The Military Gallery (which in Russian is called Voennaya galereya) is a special room inside the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. This gallery is famous for displaying 332 portraits of generals who bravely fought in the Patriotic War of 1812. These amazing portraits were painted by an artist named George Dawe and his Russian helpers, Alexander Polyakov and Wilhelm August Golicke.

The room itself is very grand. It has a special arched ceiling that lets light in from above. This design was created by the architect Carlo Rossi. It was built very quickly, from June to November in 1826. The gallery took the place of smaller rooms in the middle of the Winter Palace. It was located between the White Throne Hall and the Greater Throne Hall, close to the palace church. The Military Gallery was officially opened with a big ceremony on December 25, 1826.

Plan showing where the Military Gallery is inside the palace

Less than ten years after it was finished, a terrible fire destroyed parts of the Winter Palace in 1837. Luckily, the fire burned slowly, which gave people time to save Dawe's valuable portraits from the flames. After the fire, another architect, Vasily Stasov, rebuilt the hall to look exactly as it did before.

Guarding the Gallery: A Cadet's Story

In 1912, a young cadet named Vladimir Littauer was assigned to guard the Military Gallery at night. He later wrote about how strange and quiet it felt. He stood alone under the many portraits in the "huge hall," with only a single light bulb shining over some old military banners. The silence made him feel very isolated. He could hear footsteps echoing down long halls for two or three minutes before the next guard arrived to take his place.

Adding to the Collection Over Time

During the time of the Soviet Union, the gallery added four more portraits to its collection. These were of the Palace Grenadiers. This was a special ceremonial army unit created in 1827. It was made up of veterans from the Patriotic War of 1812, and their job was to guard the entire palace. These portraits were also painted by George Dawe in 1828. More recently, the gallery has also gained two paintings by Peter von Hess from the 1840s.

Today, the Military Gallery is part of the famous Hermitage Museum. It still looks just as it did when it was first built. Some copies of Dawe's portraits, including those of Boris Vladimirovich Poluektov, Dmitry Vladimirovich Golitsyn, and Boris Vladimirovich Poluektov, are now kept at the Pushkin Museum.