Dutch Queen Beatrix and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev are due to attend a festive opening today of the new renovated Dutch subdivision of Russia's Hermitage museum, according to dpa. The exhibition now showing at the Amsterdam Hermitage, to be open to the public starting Saturday, will be of Russian Court life in the 19th century. The Russian Hermitage in St Petersburg is one of the biggest museums in the world, comprising more than 3 million artifacts, many of which are kept in storage due to lack of space. The expanded Amsterdam Hermitage - which began to operate first in 2004 in a small building near the Amstel River - now comprises two large exhibition halls and 44 smaller rooms. The opening exhibition contains over 2,000 artifacts, making it one of the biggest art exhibitions ever organized on Dutch soil. The Amsterdam Hermitage is due to stage two exhibitions per year.
