Hermitage Cat Day: Now Featured on the Museum Website

This unique event was conceived by the Hermitage to celebrate its feline guardians. On this day, visitors can tour the cellars of the Winter Palace, which serve as the habitat for the Hermitage cats, while two dedicated exhibitions open in the museum halls: one showcasing the winners of an art contest, and another featuring works from the Hermitage’s permanent collection that depict cats.

The theme for this year’s art contest was A Cat’s Journey Through Time. From over 4,000 entries, the jury selected 23 works submitted by participants from Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, South Korea, Armenia, the United States, Israel, India, and Germany. The award ceremony took place during the celebrations, and the winning artworks were displayed in the Jordan Gallery for two weeks.

The second exhibition is titled A Cat’s Journey Through Time. Installed in the Vestibule of the New Hermitage, it features three artworks from distinct cultures and eras: Ancient Egypt, the Qing Dynasty of China (1644–1911), and contemporary South Korea. Together, they trace the evolution of human attitudes toward cats over a span of more than two millennia.

For the first time, projects dedicated to the Day of the Hermitage Cat have been adapted into a digital format. The new virtual tour comprises three spherical panoramas accompanied by textual descriptions. The Hermitage museum objects are outfitted with digital labels, while the descriptions of the contest-winning artworks can be accessed by clicking a cat-paw icon. The virtual tour is augmented by videos in which Maria Khaltunen, the press secretary for the Hermitage cats, discusses both exhibitions and shares insights into the daily lives of the museum’s famous feline residents.

The virtual visit can be accessed by this direct link or through the Virtual Visit section of the museum website.