The Hermitage is a world-famous repository of art, whose stocks total nearly 3,000,000 items. These include paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, objects of the minor arts, and archaeological artefacts produced by different nations at different periods of history. The Hermitage collection of Western European art can vie with the celebrated collections of Western Europe. All the leading schools are represented by the finest and most characteristic of their works. The museum boasts some of the well-known masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Lucas Cranach, Watteau, Van Dyck, Matisse, and other painters. The collection of Western European sculpture contains more than 2,000 items dating from the Middle Ages to this day.
The superb collection of prints and drawings ranks among the world's best. The museum also prides itself on its vast collection of superb pieces of jewellery and decorative and applied art which date from the time immemorial to the 20th century.