In 1929 and 1934, the Soviet government decided to sell paintings from the Hermitage collection to raise funds for the country's industrialization. A total of 2880 paintings were selected from the museum, among which 350 had significant artistic value, and 59 were considered masterpieces of world level. Some of these works had been in the Hermitage since the time of Catherine the Great. A small portion of the paintings, failing to find buyers, returned to the museum, but about 50 masterpieces, including works by Jan van Eyck, Titian, Rembrandt, and Raphael, left Russia forever. As a result, there are no paintings by Van Eyck left in the Hermitage or in Russia as a whole, and the works of Raphael, Botticelli, and Perugino were represented only by lesser pieces.

The sale of the masterpieces was planned to be conducted secretly, but information leaked to Western dealers. The first buyer was Calouste Gulbenkian, founder of Iraq Petroleum Company, who had previously traded oil with Soviet Russia. G. L. Pyatakov offered him some paintings. Gulbenkian showed interest and made a list that included "Judith" by Giorgione, "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt, and "Perseus and Andromeda" by Rubens, but the deal did not go through.

The Great Depression of the 1930s reduced interest in art, and the active work of "Antiquities" oversaturated the market and led to falling prices. In 1930, it was decided to continue the sale of masterpieces to ensure finding a buyer who could offer a worthy price. The commissioners recalled Gulbenkian's interest, and through three contracts, he acquired 51 Hermitage exhibits for £278,900, conceding four paintings to Parisian antiquarian Nathan Wildenstein. Most of these items are now displayed in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon.

The sellers were dissatisfied with the results of the deal and continued to seek new buyers. Gulbenkian was also disappointed with the actions of the Soviet agents, considering them unprofessional. In his memorandum letter to the Soviet leadership, he expressed the opinion that the sale of national heritage was a serious mistake.