THE HERMITAGE is one of the world's oldest and richest repositories of art. The museum's exhibitions and reserves occupy five buildings, each one an architectural masterpiece. These are the magnificent Baroque edifice of the Winter Palace, the Small Hermitage and the Big (or Old) Hermitage which both epitomize Russian classicism, the Hermitage Theatre, strict in its classical proportions, and, finally, the New Hermitage, specially erected to house the ever growing collections.