The Winter Palace, seat of the Hermitage Museum since the October Revolution, is very impressive with its long pistachio green façade dotted with 400 immaculately white columns. It was built by the Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli between 1754 and 1762 in the Baroque style that was in vogue at the time, on a commission from Empress Elizabeth. Its grand proportions are only equalled by the variety of its ornamentation (columns, bas-reliefs, vases, statues). Catherine II designed the interior.