From the very beginning of its existence in the 18th century, a unique collection of antique engraved gems remained a subject of particular interest for researchers, collectors and connoisseurs, though its true scholarly cataloguing, deep study and publication began, perhaps, only in the early 20th century, when the Tsar’s family collections became the State property as a result of social and political upheaval. The article is devoted to the most significant stages of studying the Hermitage antique glyptic art objects in the 20th century. Special attention is paid to the work of two prominent curators and researchers — Maria I. Maksimova and Oleg Ya. Neverov. It was in their studies that the most pressing art criticism problems were formulated and studied. Due to their research, the 20th century should be referred to as a period of summarizing the achievements of the previous century’s researchers, on the one hand, and, on the other — a new set of problems has been put and to a great extent developed, bringing to light the exceptional originality of the Hermitage collection of the ancient glyptic art.