In the biography of a creative person, any detail is of colossal importance, both in terms of the direction of personal development, and from the position of its influence on the surrounding space. The psychobiographical method makes it possible to synthesize such small details with the main biographical, memoir, epistolary, research, and other legacies of an individual in order to clarify its life history. The article deals with the biography and artistic heritage of art historian Maria Illarionovna Shcherbacheva (1888-1968), an employee of the Hermitage, in 1941-1942 acting as a conservator of the museum. From July 17 to July 24, 1940, the State Hermitage Museum celebrated its 175th anniversary. A unique repository of values and historical memory appeared before the visitors. Possessing masterpieces of world importance, the Hermitage of the prewar period was distinguished by a uniform approach to the evaluation of cultural heritage sites. The article presents a little-known report of M.I. Shcherbacheva, read on the anniversary of the museum.