Penza, 2 November 2016. PenzaNews. The director of the Savitsky Picture Gallery Kirill Zastrozhny called the “Lesser Hermitage” exhibition, which started its work in the institution of culture on Wednesday, November 2, unprecedented in Penza.

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“I guarantee that it will be unforgettable and you will experience a culture shock in the best sense of the word,” he said during the official opening.

In turn, Tatiana Kurdova, chief of the department of culture and archives of the Penza region, noted that the title of the exhibition “sounds very enthusiastic and very suggestive.”

“Even though we are a province, we are the first in the project. And I hope that the start, which will be given today, the attention, which will be drawn to this wonderful unique project, will facilitate its development in our huge country, in all provincial towns where a lot of people live and have no opportunity to come to Saint Petersburg and visit the Hermitage,” she said.

As explained by the board chairman of the Cultural Heritage international foundation, philanthropist and collector Victor Kartsev, the city was given copies, which are hard to distinguish from the originals even by experienced art experts, and they are presented in real size.

The exposition of 25 art copies of famous paintings is placed in three halls of the governor’s house, which is the second building of the picture gallery.

The exhibition presents the works of the masters of the Proto-Renaissance and the High Renaissance, including Ugolino de Nerio, Rafael, Francesco del Cossa, Giorgione, Botticelli, Lorenco di Credi, and Giovanni Pietro Rizolli.

A significant place in the exhibition is devoted to the works of the XVII century Dutch painters - Jan de Brajâ, Adrian van Ostade, Willem Claesz Heda, Jan Vermeer and Pieter Bruehgel the elder. In addition, the visitors of the exhibition will be able to get acquainted with the works of artists of the 19th century, Ernst, John Copley Singlotona Mr. Normand and William-Adolphe Bouguereau.