After reading the introductory text to the exhibition, the visitor encountered a large painting from Rembrandt's atelier (the original of which had been purchased for the Hermitage by Catherine the Great). This painting suggested to visitors the abrupt break between the "Byzantine" look of the Muscovite materials and the turn to western European aesthetics in the reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great.

From the introduction, the viewer moved counterclockwise to the right, encountering (appropriately, on the East wall) Section Two, "Engaging Asia," concerning Russian engagement with China during the Ming and Qing dynasties and, to a lesser extent, Tokugawa Japan. A sound station enabled visitors to listen to authentic court music of the Qing period. A large graphic banner inset into the adjacent window bay depicted a Russian mission's entrance into the Forbidden City in the early 18th century.