Paintings, articles of silver, porcelain, celebrated Wedgwood faience, cameos and medals are exhibited in the four rooms of the Courtyard Enfilade on the first floor in the Winter Palace (rooms 298-301).
A considerable part of the English painting collection comprises portraits, the earliest of which dating back to the 16th century. The portrait painting genre of the late 17th and the 18th centuries is represented by the works of William Dobson, Godfrey Kneller, George Romney, Henry Raeburn and Thomas Gainsborough. It was the latter who created the “Portrait of a Lady in Blue” (room 298). Three works by Joshua Reynolds, including “The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents“, which were commissioned by Catherine II, are illustrative of the master’s work (room 300). The exhibition contains objects of applied art. One’s attention is drawn to the silver tub-shaped cooler created by Charles Kendler and the pieces from “The Green Frog Service” made at the Wedgwood factory. Nineteenth century painting is represented by works of the prominent portrait painters Thomas Lawrence, Christina Robertson and George Dawe (rooms 300 -301).
