The exhibition of paintings by the Dresden Gallery in the summer of 1955 was a major event in the artistic life of not only Moscow alone, but the whole country; an event not only artistic, but also all cultural life. Moscow has never seen such an abundance of excellent examples of classical painting within the walls of the A.S. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. The Dresden art gallery was created in the 18th century, that is, simultaneously with the Hermitage. It includes masterpieces by Jan van Eyck, Botticelli, Mantegna, Giorgione, Raphael, Veronese, Vermeer, Velazquez, Crespi and many other masters,