Catherine the Great founded the State Hermitage Museum in 1764. What began as her private art purchases has grown into the world’s largest collection of paintings and sculptures from virtually every European country. It also displays Egyptian, Roman and Greek antiquities and prehistoric artifacts. The complex consists of part of the Winter Palace – the museum’s entrance – plus six other buildings. This is Pavilion Hall, part of the Small Hermitage. It was created in 1858 by Andrei Stackenschneider.