EXCLUSIVE WEBINAR | “Raiding the Hermitage”
Presented by Susan Jaques
with Additional Commentary by Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Desperate for cash during the Great Depression, Joseph Stalin secretly sold part of his country’s cultural patrimony -- paintings, jewelry, and Faberge eggs -- to the highest bidders.  Ignoring a trade embargo with the Soviet Union, U.S. treasury secretary Andrew Mellon struck a clandestine deal in 1930 to buy twenty-one masterpieces from the Hermitage. The septuagenarian art collector hid the paintings in the basement of the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. before ultimately donating them to the National Gallery of Art, his gift to the nation. "Raiding the Hermitage" will explore this little-known purchase and the masterpieces that became part of the National Gallery's founding collection. The treasure trove of Old Masters includes five Italian Renaissance gems acquired by Catherine the Great and her grandsons Alexander I and Nicholas I: Botticelli's The Adoration of the Magi, Raphael's Alba Madonna and St. George and the Dragon, Titian's Venus with a Mirror, and Veronese's The Finding of Moses.

The webinar will include a 45-minute lecture followed by 15-minutes of Q&A.

Please note:

• Your participation is confirmed once you have purchased your ticket. You will receive the Zoom link to join the presentation circa 30 minutes before the start time.
• VIDEO RECORDING of the webinar will be available for unlimited streaming at your convenience for 7 days after the event.

Susan Jaques is an author specializing in art and architecture. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA.  Her books include The Caesar of Paris: Napoleon Bonaparte, Rome, and the Artistic Obsession that Shaped an Empire and The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. She lives in Los Angeles, California where she's a gallery docent at the J. Paul Getty Museum.