The Hermitage has been their home for a very long time. They have witnessed generations of Russian tsars and European monarchs come and go. At the Hermitage they survived world wars, the Russian Revolution and many other dramatic events. They drew millions of visitors to the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg. And now these masterpieces from the collection of Dutch masters at the Hermitage have temporarily returned to their native land.The Russian love for the Dutch masters began in the seventeenth century. Peter the Great visited Holland and purchased a number of works. His successors and the people at the court were even more passionate collectors than he, making the Hermitage the proud owner of an unprecedented, extensive collection of works by Dutch masters.But why did the Russian aristocracy love Dutch art so much? How did the collections come together? And how did these Dutch paintings influence Russian art? In this book, Russian and Dutch authors give answers to these questions and take you on a journey all the way to Saint Petersburg and back. Back to the Netherlands of the Golden Age.