The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on
Arts Square in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, is the world's largest depository of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n fine art. It is also one of the
largest art museums in the world with total area over 30 hectares.
[ In 2021 it attracted 2,260,231 visitors, ranking second on ]list of most-visited art museums
This article lists the most-visited art museums in the world in 2021. The primary source is '' The Art Newspaper'' annual survey of the number of visitors to major art museums in 2021, published 28 March 2022.
Total attendance in the top one hu ...
in the world.
Creation
The museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
was established on April 13, 1895, upon enthronement of the emperor Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
to commemorate his father, Alexander III. Its original collection was composed of artworks taken from the Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
, Alexander Palace, and the Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...
. The task to restructure the interiors according to the need of future exposition was imposed on Vasily Svinyin. The grand opening took place on the 17 of March, 1898.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, many private collections were nationalized
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...
and relocated to the Russian Museum. These included Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich ; german: Kasimir Malewitsch; pl, Kazimierz Malewicz; russian: Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич ; uk, Казимир Северинович Малевич, translit=Kazymyr Severynovych ...
's ''Black Square
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
''.
Architecture
The main building of the museum is the Mikhailovsky Palace
The Mikhailovsky Palace (russian: Михайловский дворец, tr=Mikhailovskiy dvorets) is a grand ducal palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is located on Arts Square and is an example of Empire style neoclassicism. The palace cu ...
, the Neoclassical former residence of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich, erected in 1819–25 to a design by Carlo Rossi on Square of Arts in St Petersburg. Upon the death of the Grand Duke the residence was named after his wife as the ''Palace of the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna'', and became famous for its many theatrical presentations and balls.
Some of the halls of the palace retain the Italianate opulent interiors of the former imperial residence. Other buildings and locations, assigned to the Russian museum, include the Summer Palace of Peter I (1710–14) with the Summer Garden
The Summer Garden (russian: Ле́тний сад, ''Letniy sad'') is a historic public garden that occupies an eponymous island between the Neva, Fontanka, Moika, and the Swan Canal in
downtown Saint Petersburg, Russia and shares its name w ...
, the Marble Palace
Marble Palace (Мраморный дворец) is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace.
Design and pre-1917 ...
of Count Orlov
Orlov (russian: Орлóв) is the name of a Russian noble family which produced several distinguished statesmen, scientists, diplomats, and soldiers. The family first gained distinction in the 18th century through the achievements of five ...
(1768–85), St Michael's Castle
Saint Michael's Castle (russian: Миха́йловский за́мок, ''Mikhailovsky zamok''), also called the Mikhailovsky Castle or the Engineers' Castle (russian: Инженерный замок, ''Inzhenerny zamok''), is a former royal ...
of Emperor Paul
Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he was fathered by her l ...
(1797–1801), the cabin of Peter the Great, and the Rastrelli Rastrelli may refer to the following persons:
* Antonio Rastrelli (politician) (1927–2019), Italian politician
* Antonio Rastrelli (born 1945), Italian Olympic swimmer
* Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1675–1744), Italian sculptor who emigra ...
esque Stroganov Palace
The Stroganov Palace ( Russian: Строгановский дворец) is a Late Baroque palace at the intersection of the Moika River and Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg, Russia. The palace was built to Bartolomeo Rastrelli's designs for B ...
on the Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Prospect ( rus, Не́вский проспе́кт, r=Nevsky Prospekt (street), Prospekt, p=ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt) is the main street (high street) in the federal city of Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg in Russian Federation, ...
(1752–54).[
The project of Benois Building (or 'Corpus Benua') was developed in 1910-1912 by the famous Russian architect ]Leon Benois
Leon Benois (russian: Леонтий Николаевич Бенуа; 1856 in Peterhof – 1928 in Leningrad) was a Russian architect from the Benois family.
Biography
He was the son of architect Nicholas Benois, the brother of artists Alexandr ...
. The construction started in 1914, but was interrupted by the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. After Russian revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, in 1919 the Benois Building was completed. In 1930s it was assigned to the Russian museum.
Collection
Today the collection shows Russian art from the 10th century up to the 21st century, covering all genres from the old Russian
Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
painting to contemporary art.
Restoration of the museum property
All process on the restoration of works of art in the Russian Museum is carried out at the Museum Valuables Restoration Service.
The need to set up a special restoration workshop at the Russian Museum was first raised in 1906. At that time, the artist and restorer A. Boravskiy drew up his famous project to set up a restoration workshop at the Russian Museum. However, owing to a lack of funds, he was not destined to succeed.
It was in 1922 that the restoration workshop of the Russian Museum was established. Its first director was the painter-restorer N.A. Okolovich. The restoration workshop consisted of two sections: the main one, which worked for the Museum, and the regional one, which was engaged in saving cultural monuments in Petrograd and other cities of Russia.
In 1935, the Conservation and Restoration Department was divided into laboratories and sections: painting, new painting, sculpture, applied art and folk art.
During the 1950s and 1960s, new workshops were set up. In 1953, a workshop for graphic arts restoration, in 1954 for Old Russian painting, in 1961 for wooden sculpture, decorative carving and furniture
Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...
and a workshop for textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
restoration, in 1969 for plaster and stone sculpture and 1970 for applied art.
At present, the restoration department is made up of 16 workshops (sectors) for all types of materials, employing, its figures, 95 people. The department includes the following restoration workshops: easel painting
An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it, at an angle of about 20° to the vertical. In particular, easels are traditionally used by painters to support a painting while they work on it, normally ...
, Old Russian paintings, mixed media painting, graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
, ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
and glassware
upTypical drinkware
The list of glassware includes drinking vessels (drinkware) and tableware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry. It does not include laboratory glass ...
, textiles
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
, metalwork
Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...
, veneered furniture, polychrome
Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors.
Ancient Egypt
Colossal statu ...
and gilded carving, carved icons and wooden sculpture, picture frames, plaster and stone sculpture, contemporary art objects (established in 2010). The department is staffed by artists with the highest and the highest restoration category. The department includes a sector of chemical and biological research and a sector of the history and theory of museum restoration.
In 2014, the Department of Restoration of Museum Properties restored 4,511 exhibits, of which 280 were restored with special complexity. 5,930 exhibits were prepared for 77 museum exhibitions (preparation of preservation reports, preventive conservation and restoration, packing and unpacking of exhibits). 150 meetings of the Restoration Commission were held, at which the most important issues on the research and methods of restoration of museum exhibits were considered.
As of 1 January 2019, the Department of Restoration of Museum Estates was transformed into the Service of Restoration of Museum Estates.
Exhibits
The Ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
Department was originally set up in a building specially designed by Vladimir Svinyin in 1902. The museum soon housed gifts received by Emperor's family from representatives of peoples inhabiting various regions of the Russian Empire. Further exhibits were purchased by Nicholas II and other members of his family as State financing was not enough to purchase new exhibits. In 1934, the Ethnographic Department was given the status of an independent museum: the Russian Museum of Ethnography
The Russian Museum of Ethnography (Российский этнографический музей) is a museum in St. Petersburg that houses a collection of about 500,000 items relating to the ethnography, or cultural anthropology, of peoples of ...
.
Málaga branch
The city of Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
, home to thousands of Russian expats, signed an agreement to host the first overseas branch of the State Russian Museum, which opened in March 2015. Works displayed in the Malaga branch range from Byzantine-inspired icons to social realism of the Soviet era. They are on display in yards) of exhibition space in La Tabacalera, a 1920s tobacco factory.
Gallery
Архангел Гавриил (Ангел Златые Власы)2.jpg, '' The Angel with Golden Hair'' (12th century)
Descent into hell-Russian Museum.jpg, Dionisius
Dionisius (russian: Диони́сий, variously transliterated as ''Dionisy'' or ''Dionysiy''; also Dionisius the Wise; c. 1440 – 1502) was acknowledged as a head of the Moscow school of icon painters at the turn of the 15th and 16th ...
, ''Harrowing of Hell'' (1495–1504)
Ushakov Nerukotvorniy.jpg, Simon Ushakov
Simon (Pimen) Fyodorovich Ushakov (Russian: Симон (Пимен) Федорович Ушаков) (1626 – 25 June 1686) was a leading Russian icon painter of the late 17th-century. Together with Fyodor Zubov and Fyodor Rozhnov, he is ...
, ''The Mandylion'' (1658)
Nikitin Getman.jpg, Ivan Nikitin, ''A Malorossian Hetman'' ()
LevitzkyAlymova1775.jpg, Dmitry Levitzky
Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky (russian: Дмитрий Григорьевич Левицкий, May 1735 – 17 April 1822) was a Russian portrait painter and Academician.
Biography
He was born to , a priest, who was also an amateur painter and ...
, ''Portrait of Glafira Alymova
Glafira Ivanovna Alymova (1758–1826) was a Russian Empire lady in waiting and harpist.
Biography
Glafira Alymova was the daughter of Colonel Ivan Akinfievich Alymov. She studied at the Smolny Institute from 1764 to 1776, as one of its f ...
'' (1776)
Dmitry Levitzky 08.jpg, Dmitry Levitzky
Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky (russian: Дмитрий Григорьевич Левицкий, May 1735 – 17 April 1822) was a Russian portrait painter and Academician.
Biography
He was born to , a priest, who was also an amateur painter and ...
, ''Portrait of Countess Anna Vorontsova
Countess Anna Karlovna Vorontsova, née Countess Skavronskaya ( – ), was a Russian lady in waiting, salonist and noble, cousin of the Empress Elizabeth of Russia. She was married to Chancellor Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov.
Life
She was ...
'' (c.1790)
Karl Brullov - The Last Day of Pompeii - Google Art Project.jpg, Karl Brullov
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (russian: Карл Па́влович Брюлло́в; 12 December 1799 – 11 June 1852), original name Charles Bruleau, also transliterated Briullov and Briuloff, and referred to by his friends as "Karl the Great", was a ...
, '' The Last Day of Pompeii'' (1830–33)
Hovhannes Aivazovsky - The Ninth Wave - Google Art Project.jpg, Ivan Aivazovsky
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized a ...
, ''The Ninth Wave
''The Ninth Wave'' (russian: Девятый вал, ''Dyevyatiy val'') is an 1850 painting by Russian-Armenian marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Ай ...
'' (1850)
Ilya Repin-What freedom!.jpg, Ilya Repin
Ilya Yefimovich Repin (russian: Илья Ефимович Репин, translit=Il'ya Yefimovich Repin, p=ˈrʲepʲɪn); fi, Ilja Jefimovitš Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the ...
, ''What freedom!'' (1903).
Ilja Jefimowitsch Repin - Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks - Yorck.jpg, Ilya Repin
Ilya Yefimovich Repin (russian: Илья Ефимович Репин, translit=Il'ya Yefimovich Repin, p=ˈrʲepʲɪn); fi, Ilja Jefimovitš Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is now Ukraine. He became one of the ...
, ''Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks
''Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks'' is a painting by Ilya Repin. It is also known as ''Cossacks of Saporog Are Drafting a Manifesto'' and in Russian, (russian: Запорожцы пишут письмо турецкому султану, Zap ...
'' (1880–91)
Victor_Vasnetsov_-_Knight_at_the_Crossroads_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, Victor Vasnetsov
Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (russian: Ви́ктор Миха́йлович Васнецо́в; May 15 ( N.S.), 1848 – July 23, 1926) was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founde ...
, '' Knight at the Crossroads'' (1882)
SurikovSnowFortress.jpg, Vasily Surikov
Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (Russian: Василий Иванович Суриков; 24 January 1848 – 19 March 1916) was a Russian Realist history painter. Many of his works have become familiar to the general public through their use as illus ...
, ''Taking a Snow Town'' (1891)
Levitan ozero28.JPG, Isaak Levitan
Isaac Ilyich Levitan (russian: Исаа́к Ильи́ч Левита́н; – ) was a classical Russian landscape Painting, painter who advanced the genre of the "mood landscape".
Life and work
Youth
Isaac Levitan was born in a shtetl o ...
, ''The Lake'' (1900)
Terror Antiquus by L.Bakst (1908).jpg, Léon Bakst, '' Ancient Horror'' (1908)
Portrait of Ida Rubenstein1.jpg, Valentin Serov
Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (russian: Валенти́н Алекса́ндрович Серо́в; 19 January 1865 – 5 December 1911) was a Russian painter and one of the premier portrait artists of his era.
Life and work
Youth and educ ...
, '' Portrait of Ida Rubenstein'' (1910)
Boris Kustodiev - Portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin - Google Art Project.jpg, Boris Kustodiev
Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Кусто́диев; – 28 May 1927) was a Russian and Soviet painter and stage designer.
Early life
Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan into the family of a profe ...
, ''Portrait of Chaliapin
The ''Portrait of Chaliapin'' is a painting by Boris Kustodiev, created in 1921 in Petrograd (modern day Saint Petersburg). ttp://nearyou.ru/100kartin/100karrt_90.html Кустодиев Б. «Портрет Федора Шаляпина»/ref> A ...
'' (1921)
Malevich.black-square.jpg, Kasimir Malevich
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich ; german: Kasimir Malewitsch; pl, Kazimierz Malewicz; russian: Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич ; uk, Казимир Северинович Малевич, translit=Kazymyr Severynovych ...
, ''Black Square
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have ...
'' (1923)
Bathing. Kustodiev.jpg, Boris Kustodiev
Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Кусто́диев; – 28 May 1927) was a Russian and Soviet painter and stage designer.
Early life
Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan into the family of a profe ...
, ''Bathing'' (1921)
See also
* Art Culture Museum
* Collections of the Russian Museum
Among the collections of the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg in Russia are some of the greatest pieces of Russian art in the world.
The Museum houses collections of sculpture, work of art, objets d'art, drawings and paintings including the fam ...
* Fine Art of Leningrad
The fine art of Leningrad is an important component of Russian Soviet art—in the opinion of the art historians Vladimir Gusev and Vladimir Leniashin, "one of its most powerful currents". This widely used term embraces the creative lives and th ...
* List of museums in Saint Petersburg
This is a list of museums in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Biographical museums
Writers
Anna Akhmatova museums
*Anna Akhmatova Literary and Memorial Museum (Fountain House)
* Anna Akhmatova. The Silver Age (in Avtovo)
Alexander Pushkin muse ...
References
External links
Russian Museum website
Interiors of the Michael Palace I
Interiors of the Michael Palace II
Interiors of the Michael Palace III
Virtual tour of the Russian Museum
provided by Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...
*
{{Authority control
1895 establishments in the Russian Empire
Art museums established in 1895
Collections of the Russian Museum
Palaces in Saint Petersburg