The film treats The Hermitage as a living being. It tells the story of the daily life of the museum today continuously leaving the ‘here and now’ to retrace two and a half centuries.
A wonderful complex of buildings with the largest collection of paintings in the world. St. Petersburg and the Hermitage were a meeting point for foreign artists, architects and intellectuals creating connections through art and culture.

The history of the museum is marked by the acquisitions of the enlightened Empress Catherine II, whose personality has continued to fascinate art historians and critics over the centuries.

Toni Servillo leads us on this journey through cultural bridges between places and distant civilizations. Bridges form a symbolic visual element, that will be repeated in the narrative. The greatness of European art can be retraced, from Leonardo to to Van Eyck, Rubens, Titian while the legend of St. Petersburg through poems, stories and novels.