150th Anniversary of the New Hermitage

Obverse

in the centre - the Emblem of the Bank of Russia [the two-headed eagle with wings down, lower - the semicircular inscription - "БАНК РОССИИ" (BANK OF RUSSIA)] framed by a circle of dots and inscriptions along the rim: at the top - "ДВАДЦАТЬ ПЯТЬ РУБЛЕЙ" (TWENTY FIVE RUBLES), at the bottom - the year of issue "2002", the letters to the left indicate the metal sign and the fineness, to the right - the fine metal content and the mint trade mark.

Reverse

in the centre - the principal staircase and the hall of the New Hermitage, to the left - the painting "Madonna and Child" (Madonna Benois) by Leonardo da Vinci (1478), to the right - the painting "The Absinthe Drinker" by Pablo Picasso (1901), the inscription at the bottom along the rim: "НОВЫЙ ЭРМИТАЖ" (THE NEW HERMITAGE) divided by the date "150" in an oval, above the date - the building of the New Hermitage.

Authors

The artist: A.V. Baklanov.
The sculptor: A.S. Kunats.
St. Petersburg Mint (СПМД).
The edge: 252 corrugations.

The New Hermitage opened on February 5 (February 17 New Style) is the first public museum of the world art in Russia. The building of the New Hermitage was erected in 1839-1852 by architect Leo von Klenze specially for keeping the museum's collections of works of art.