The highest decree on the establishment of the “Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III” in the Mikhailovsky Palace of St. Petersburg was signed 120 years ago, on April 13, 1895.
Currently the State Russian Museum is largest museum Russian art in the world. His collection includes 407.5 so-called storage units. In anticipation memorable date the site remembered 10 masterpieces of painting that can be seen in the Russian Museum.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. "Moonlit night on the Dnieper." 1880
River bank. The horizon line runs down. The silvery-greenish light of the moon is reflected in the water. " Moonlight night on the Dnieper" is one of the most famous paintings Arkhip Kuindzhi.
The magic of the landscape captivated Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, who purchased it for a lot of money directly from the artist’s workshop. The prince did not want to part with his favorite painting even during trip around the world. As a result, his whim almost ruined Kuindzhi’s masterpiece - due to the sea air, the composition of the paint changed, and the landscape began to darken. But, despite this, the picture still has a magical appeal, forcing viewers to peer at it for a long time.
The magic of the landscape captivated Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. Photo: www.russianlook.com
Karl Bryullov. "The last day of Pompeii". 1830—1833
“The last day of Pompeii became the first day for the Russian brush!” - this is what the poet Evgeny Baratynsky wrote about this picture. And the British writer Walter Scott called the picture “unusual, epic.”
The canvas, measuring 465.5x651 cm, was exhibited in Rome and Paris. It was at the disposal of the Academy of Arts thanks to Nicholas I. The painting was presented to him as a gift famous philanthropist Anatoly Demidov, and the emperor decided to exhibit it at the Academy, where it could serve as a guide for aspiring painters.
It is worth noting that Karl Bryullov depicted himself against the backdrop of a collapsing city. The artist's self-portrait can be seen in the left corner of the painting.
Karl Bryullov depicted himself against the backdrop of a collapsing city. The artist's self-portrait can be seen in the left corner of the painting. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Ilya Repin. "Barge Haulers on the Volga". 1870-1873
The summer of 1870, spent by the artist on the Volga, 15 versts from Samara, had a great influence on the work of Ilya Repin. He begins work on the canvas, in which many later saw philosophical meaning, the embodiment of submission to fate and the strength of the common people.
While among the barge haulers, Ilya Efimovich Repin meets the former priest Kanin, from whom he would later create many sketches for the painting.
“There was something oriental and ancient about him. But the eyes, the eyes! What a depth of gaze, raised to the eyebrows, which also tend to the forehead... And the forehead is a large, smart, intelligent forehead; “He’s not a simpleton,” the master said about him.
“There was something oriental, ancient about him. But the eyes, the eyes!” Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Ilya Repin. "The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan." 1880-1891
“You are the Turkish devil, the damned devil’s brother and comrade, and the secretary of Luciper himself!” According to legend, this is how the letter that the Zaporozhye Cossacks wrote in 1675 began in response to the offer of Sultan Mahmud IV to come under his subordination. The well-known plot formed the basis famous painting Ilya Repin.
The well-known plot formed the basis of the famous painting by Ilya Repin. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Victor Vasnetsov. "The Knight at the Crossroads." 1878
Poetic spirit folk legends masterfully conveyed in the work of Viktor Vasnetsov. The painting was first presented to viewers in 1878 as part of a traveling exhibition.
The artist worked on the painting for several years. In the first versions, the hero was facing the viewer, but later composition was changed. The Russian Museum houses a later version of the painting - 1882. The first version from 1878 is in the Serpukhov Historical and Art Museum.
It is worth noting that the plot of “The Knight at the Crossroads” is reproduced on the tombstone of the artist, who is buried at the Vvedensky cemetery.
The artist worked on the painting for several years. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Ivan Aivazovsky. "The Ninth Wave" 1850
Created in 1850, the painting “The Ninth Wave” was acquired by Nicholas I.
The ninth wave, in the minds of sailors, is the most destructive. This is exactly what the shipwrecked characters have to go through.
Created in 1850, the painting “The Ninth Wave” was acquired by Nicholas I. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Valentin Serov. Portrait of Ida Rubinstein. 1910
The famous dancer and actress Ida Rubinstein inspired many artists: Kees van Dongen, Antonio de la Gandara, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, Leon Bakst and Valentin Serov.
The Russian painter, who is considered a master of portraiture, saw her for the first time on the Parisian stage. In 1910 he creates her portrait.
“There is monumentality in her every movement, just a revived archaic bas-relief,” the artist admired her grace.
The famous dancer and actress Ida Rubenstein inspired many artists. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Valentin Serov. The Rape of Europa. 1910
The idea to write “The Rape of Europa” was born to Valentin Serov during a trip to Greece. A visit to the Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete made a great impression on him. In 1910, the painting, which was based on the legend of the abduction of Europa, the daughter of the Phoenician king Agenor, by Zeus, was completed.
According to some evidence, Serov created six versions of the painting.
The idea to write “The Rape of Europa” was born to Valentin Serov during a trip to Greece. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Boris Kustodiev. Portrait of F.I. Shalyapin. 1922
“I knew a lot of interesting, talented and good people. But if I have ever seen a truly great spirit in a person, it is in Kustodiev,” he wrote about the artist in his autobiographical book"Mask and Soul" famous singer Fyodor Chaliapin.
Work on the painting was carried out in the artist’s apartment. The room where Chaliapin posed for Kustodiev was so small that the picture had to be painted in parts.
The artist’s son later recalled a funny moment of the work. According to him, in order to capture Fyodor Ivanovich’s beloved dog on canvas, he had to resort to a trick: “In order for the pug to stand with its head raised, a cat was placed on the closet, and Chaliapin did everything possible to make the dog look at it.”
The workshop where Chaliapin posed for Kustodiev was so small that the picture had to be painted in parts. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Kazimir Malevich. Black circle. 1923
One of the most famous paintings by the founder of Suprematism - Kazimir Malevich - has several options. The first of them, created in 1915, is now kept in a private collection. The second - created by Malevich's students under his leadership - is exhibited in the St. Petersburg Russian Museum.
Experts note that for Kazimir Malevich the “Black Circle” was one of the three main modules of the new plastic system, the style-forming potential of a new plastic idea - Suprematism.
Painting second half of the 19th century centuries - beginning of the XXI century
Among paintings, transferred to the Russian Museum at the time of its foundation, a noticeable and artistically significant part consisted of works by leading masters of the second half of the 19th century. (I.K. Aivazovsky, V.M. Vasnetsov, K.E. Makovsky, I.E. Repin, V.D. Polenov, V.I. Surikov). Despite the fact that the selection of paintings for the museum in the first two decades of its existence was somewhat limited by the conservative tastes of the Council of the Academy of Arts, the range of paintings represented in the collection was constantly expanding. This is a huge merit of the museum staff, such as Albert Benoit and Alexander Benois, I.E.Grabar, P.I.Neradovsky and others. Important steps were taken to complete the collection of paintings contemporary artists. Individual paintings and entire groups of works came from the exhibitions of I.I. Levitan (in 1901 - posthumous), V.V. Vereshchagin (in 1905 - posthumous), Ya.F. Tsionglinsky (in 1914 - posthumous) , Partnership of Traveling Art Exhibitions (S.Yu. Zhukovsky, N.A. Kasatkin, I.I. Levitan, V.E. Makovsky), New Society of Artists (B.M. Kustodiev, N.M. Fokin), from the authors (A.Ya.Golovin, V.A.Serov, M.V.Nesterov), from random owners (“Meal” by V.G. Perov, “Portrait of O.K. Orlova” by V.A. Serov, etc.) .
A notable contribution to the collection of paintings were the sketches of M.A. Vrubel and paintings by K.A. Somov from the extensive collection of V.N. Argutinsky-Dolgorukov, which were transferred to the museum in 1918. Soon the museum received N.I.’s collection for storage. and E.M. Tereshchenko, consisting mainly of works by artists late XIX- beginning of the 20th century (including “The Hero” and “The Six-Winged Seraph” by M.A. Vrubel), the collection of A.A. Korovin, which included paintings by V.A. Serov, F.A. Malyavin, M.V. Nesterov, K. A. Korovin, as well as representatives artistic associations“World of Art”, “Blue Rose” and “Jack of Diamonds”.
Replenishment of the collection of paintings of the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. did not stop in the 1930s. At this time, from the Museum of the Revolution, among other works, “The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council” by I.E. Repin was transferred. From the State Tretyakov Gallery The Russian Museum received paintings by masters poorly represented in the latter’s collection (“Guitar Player” and “Portrait of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev” by V.G. Perov, “Self-Portrait” by N.V. Nevrev, “Student Student” by N.A. Yaroshenko, “ Flying Demon" by M.A. Vrubel and "Baba" by F.A. Malyavin).
Over the past twenty years, the museum has received about two hundred works of painting from the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Most of these works were donated in 1998 by the brothers I.A. and Y.A.Rzhevsky. An extensive collection of paintings by Russian artists, including paintings by I.K. Aivazovsky, I.I. Shishkin, N.N. Dubovsky, B.N. Kustodiev, K.Ya. Kryzhitsky and many other masters, is now on permanent display in the museum in the Marble building palace It is also necessary to note several sketches and paintings domestic artists late XIX - XX centuries (S.Yu. Zhukovsky, E.I. Stolitsa, A.B. Lakhovsky and others), donated in 2009 from N.P. Ivashkevich. A notable acquisition in recent years has been I.E. Repin’s painting “Portrait of a Military Man,” which previously belonged to one of the North American companies.
In 1926, in addition to Art department The Russian Museum has created a Department of Contemporary Trends. Its funds began to be purposefully replenished with works of avant-garde artistic movements and creative associations the first quarter of the twentieth century, including the works of N.S. Goncharova, V.V. Kandinsky, P.P. Konchalovsky, P.V. Kuznetsov, M.F. Larionov, A.V. Lentulov, K.S. Malevich, L.S. Popova, V.E. Tatlin, R.R. Falk, P.N. Filonov, M.Z. Chagall and many others.
By 1927, the exhibition of the Russian Museum consistently presented numerous new trends from post-impressionism to non-objective art. The department of modern trends lasted only three years, but it essentially laid the foundation for the Department of Soviet Painting of the State Russian Museum (1932-1991), which this moment(as part of the Department of Painting of the 2nd half of the 19th-21st centuries) has constantly replenished funds. These funds, exceeding 6,000 storage units, cover almost all areas, schools, trends, main types and genres of development of Russian art of the 20th - early 21st centuries.
The Russian Museum has one of the largest collections of works of the early Russian avant-garde and its leading masters. The collection of paintings presents the main innovative movements of the mid-1910s: abstractionism (V.V. Kandinsky) and its purely Russian branch - Rayonism (M.F. Larionov, N.S. Goncharova), neo-primitivism (M.F. Larionov , N.S. Goncharova, A.V. Shevchenko, K.S. Malevich), cubo-futurism (D.D. Burlyuk, K.S. Malevich, I.A. Puni, L.S. Popova, N.A. Udaltsova, A.A. Exter and others), Suprematism (K.S. Malevich, I.A. Puni, O.V. Rozanova, I.V. Klyun), constructivism (V.E. Tatlin, A.M. .Rodchenko, A.A.Exter, L.V.Popova), analytical art (P.N. Filonov). Unique in their completeness are the collections of works by masters who created innovative art systems(K.S. Malevich, P.N. Filonov, K.S. Petrov-Vodkin), as well as individual major painters, including those whose creative path started already in Soviet time(S.V. Gerasimov, P.P. Konchalovsky, P.V. Kuznetsov, B.M. Kustodiev, V.V. Lebedev, A.A. Rylov, A.V. Shevchenko, N.M. Romadin). Also in the museum's collection are works by artists - representatives of significant schools that existed during Soviet times (for example, the Leningrad school landscape painting 1930s - 1950s).
Art socialist realism, demonstrating high artistic merit, plot clarity, programmatic inclination towards “grand style”, is reflected in the canvases of A.A. Deineka, A.N. Samokhvalov, A.A. Plastov, Yu.I. Pimenov and many others Soviet artists, who continued to work during the Great Patriotic War, and in the second half of the twentieth century. To the gold fund Soviet art Also included in the collection of the Russian Museum are works by representatives of the “severe style” and the directions of search for Soviet painting of the 1960s-1970s that were related to it. The museum's collection contains works by such masters of post-war art as N.I. Andronov, V.V. Vatenin, D.D. Zhilinsky, V.I. Ivanov, G.M. Korzhev, E.E. Moiseenko, P.F. .Nikonov, P.P.Ossovsky, V.E.Popkov, V.M.Sidorov, V.F.Stozharov, brothers A.P. and S.P. Tkachevs, B.S. Ugarov, P.T. Fomin and others, created in a wide genre range - from historical painting to still life.
Took place in the 1970s–1980s. actualization of previously rejected artistic experience gave birth in the depths official art a galaxy of masters who worked in line with the “picture of ideas” associated with a metaphorical, multifaceted understanding of the surrounding world and human life(O.V. Bulgakova, T.G. Nazarenko, N.I. Nesterova, I.V. Pravdin, A.A. Sundukov, etc.). During the period of “perestroika” (1985-1991), the collection of the Russian Museum was replenished with a number of names of artists working within the underground. Nowadays the collection modern painting- a very mobile and fast-growing part of the funds of the 20th - early 21st centuries, but the comprehensive formation of the entire pictorial collection continues.
Yaroshenko N.A. Portrait of the artist Nikolai Ge.
1890. Oil on canvas.
Roerich N.K. Overseas guests.
1902. Oil on cardboard.
The last time I was in the Russian Museum was a long time ago, back in school. And now, almost twenty years later, I was ready to go there consciously.
It turned out to be quite difficult for an ordinary Russian person to get into the Russian Museum. And for a completely banal reason: they ran out of numbers in their wardrobe. The entrance was blocked by a strict aunt with a walkie-talkie and only excursion groups and citizens with children were allowed in. After standing for almost an hour and not budging, we went to desperate step- They publicly swore that they wouldn’t even look in the direction of the wardrobe. And, lo and behold, they let us through.
With such an organization, for example, the queue to the Vatican Museums would go around the Vatican. But we are not the Vatican, it’s suddenly cold outside.
To take photographs in the museum, the camera had to buy a separate ticket for the same price as me - 250 rubles (entrance for foreigners is a hundred rubles more expensive).
I am a person far from art, so for me the main criterion for evaluating any creativity is “like” (beautiful) / “don’t like” (ugly). For example, I absolutely don’t like the picture in the title photo.
I will show what I liked below.
K. Bryullov. The last day of Pompeii. 1833.
A painting that seems to become a documentary chronicle of a historical event. It is huge in size, and if you come close, your gaze rests on the stones of the pavement, covered with ash, scattered things under the feet of the heroes - something that you don’t see in the illustrations. This greatly adds realism to what is happening. When I walked around Pompeii, it was absolutely impossible to get this image out of my head: the red sky, everything was collapsing and figures frozen in horror.
The erupting Vesuvius is balanced by Aivazovsky with many paintings of the sea elements on the opposite wall of the hall.
Russian squadron on the Sevastopol roadstead. 1846.
Relevant. Judging by the museum's exhibition, Crimea was generally a very popular topic for Russian artists.
Wave. 1899.
A very small fragment of a picture with a stormy sea, where a ship is sinking in the corner and sailors on a broken mast are sailing almost off the edge of the canvas without a chance of salvation.
The first rooms with art from the early 19th century are interesting; you can sit there for half a day, fortunately there are sofas. The following 18th-century rooms begin to tire a little with portraits and palace interiors.
Ceiling: 
Trellis: 
Animal fight at a watering hole. Petersburg Trellis Manufactory. 1757.
Mosaic: 
Ust-Rudnitskaya factory M.V. Lomonosov. Portrait of Catherine II. 1762.
Presented to the Empress on the occasion of her coronation.
The last halls of the floor are occupied by ancient Russian art, that is, iconography: 
It seems to me that this is where M. Larionov drew his inspiration.
Peter's head - Bronze Horseman on the Grand Staircase.
V. Perov. Hunters at rest. 1877.
Repeat the picture. The first version hangs in the Tretyakov Gallery.
I. Shishkin. Snitch-grass. Pargolovo. 1885.
Surprisingly - a weed against the backdrop of a crooked fence, and hanging in the Russian Museum. Joke.
A. Savrasov. Thaw. Yaroslavl. 1874.
It's time to go to Yaroslavl - there is a gap in my geography.
A little about foreign countries in large-scale canvases: 
V. Smirnov. Death of Nero. 1888.
The women came to pick up the corpse of the suicidal emperor. The red wall is like the main character.
G. Semiradsky. Phryne at the festival of Poseidon at Eleusis. 1889.
About a woman who imagines herself to be a goddess, and for this reason publicly undressed. A very sunny and positive picture.
V. Surikov: 
Old gardener. 1882.
About unwashed Russia.
View of the monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg. 1870.
About the capital.
Suvorov's crossing of the Alps. 1899.
Lighting has been provided in some museum halls in a unique way: the pictures glare in them so that they are simply not visible at all. You have to study it in fragments, changing your angle of view.
Taking the snowy town and the river, between which the colonnade of the Round Hall of the Mariinsky Palace can be seen.
Grandiose paintings by I. Repin: 
Ceremonial meeting State Council May 7, 1901 in honor centenary anniversary from the date of its establishment. 1903.
81 people are depicted, each of whom posed individually. How did he manage to arrange the composition in such a way that no one would fall out? Nicholas II sits under a portrait of Nicholas II by Repin. Recursion.
Opposite the painting hangs another portrait of Nicholas: 
Portrait of Nicholas II. 1896.
The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan. 1891. On right Belarusian. 1892, left Portrait of S. M. Dragomirova. 1889.
Barge Haulers on the Volga. 1873.
A fragment directly with barge haulers - very colorful characters.
To conclude Repin's theme: 
Black woman. 1876.
On a turf bench. 1876.
A. Kuindzhi: 
Sea. Crimea. 1908.
Night. 1908.
Duma on the fate of Russia: 
M. Antokolsky. Mephistopheles. 1883.
Mower: 
G. Myasoedov. Time of suffering(Mowers). 1887. Fragment.
It's always interesting to look at the details of paintings where the subject is a scene from real life distant and not so distant past, some action is taking place, a lot of people:
K. Savitsky. To the war. 1888.
Seeing off the soldiers to the Bulgarians who are victorious for us Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878.
K. Makovsky. Transfer of the sacred carpet to Cairo. 1876.
About the meeting of pilgrims from the Hajj. A tourist's impressions of visiting Egypt were clearly more interesting before.
V. Polenov. Christ and the sinner. 1888. Fragment with a sinner and a donkey. The donkey seems to be telling us: “Now they will stone them again as much as possible.”
Finishing the oriental theme: 
V. Vereshchagin. At the door of the mosque. 1873.
Photographic quality pattern on the door. Considering that the picture is practically life-size, I involuntarily wanted to touch it to see if it was made of wood. The handprint on the wall attracts attention. By the way, the door is visible a little through the right figure.
Another version of thoughts about the fate of Russia from Antokolsky: 
Ivan groznyj. 1871.
For some reason, next to the souvenir shop.
Let's move a little away from painting.
Folk art: 
Ladle. 1753.
Patchwork bedspread.
"Mossies". Beginning of the twentieth century.
Gloomy Vyatka peasant toys.
Valance. Late XVIII V.
Intricate pattern.
Imperial/State/Leningrad Porcelain Factory: 
A lion. 1911.
Does he really look like Lenin? What is he doing with his right front paw...
"He who works, eats."
The propaganda china from the 1920s is simply beautiful.
Service with Suprematist ornaments. 1932.
Let's continue about the paintings.
The 20th century begins: 
I. Levitan. Lake. Rus. 1900. Fragment.
The artist's last, unfinished painting.
K. Yuon. Spring sunny day. Sergiev Posad. 1910.
M. Vrubel. Bogatyr. 1898.
Fragment with a bird.
M. Nesterov. Venerable Sergius of Radonezh. 1899.
V. Serov. Bathing the Horse. 1905.
B. Kustodiev. Merchant's wife having tea. 1918.
N. Goncharova. Cyclist. 1913.
P. Filonov. Spring formula and active forces. 1928.
A small fragment.
V. Kuptsov. ANT-20 "Maxim Gorky". 1934.
Over Strelka V.O., where he never flew.
The largest plane in the world, just built in 1934, will crash a year later over Moscow during a demonstration flight with members of the families of aircraft manufacturers. And six months later Kuptsov would commit suicide.
A. Samokhvalov. Conductress. 1928.
Soviet Russia as it is.
They were taking selfies long before it became mainstream: 
K. Petrov-Vodkin. Self-portrait. 1927.
L. Kirillova. Self-portrait. 1974.
Crimea again: 
A. Deineka. Defense of Sevastopol. 1942.
And this is about my time: 
V. Ovchinnikov. Dovecote. 1979.
At all good museum. I like it.
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Guests of the Russian Museum can directly exhibition halls learn interesting details from the history of the creation of paintings. To do this, just install the Artefact augmented reality application on your phone and point the gadget’s camera at the exhibit. Now available - interesting facts about five of them are told by the portal "Culture.RF".
“The Barn” by Alexey Venetsianov, 1822
The painting was first shown at the XV exhibition of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions in 1887. There it was purchased by Emperor Alexander III. For some time the canvas was in Winter Palace, but in 1897 it moved to the newly formed Russian Museum.
“The ceremonial meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901, on the day of the centenary of its establishment” by Ilya Repin, 1903
The order for the painting came to Ilya Repin in April 1901 from Russian Emperor. The painter was assisted by Boris Kustodiev and Ivan Kulikov.
“The master himself remained the master, commander and true creator; the students were only his obedient hands.”
Igor Grabar
Even before the anniversary, artists created sketches of the interior in the Round Hall of the Mariinsky Palace. And on the day of the ceremonial meeting, Ilya Repin took photographs and sketches here - the painters used all the materials while working on the painting. The painting took three years to complete.
The plot of the picture centers on Nicholas II and representatives of the imperial house: the Tsar’s younger brother Mikhail, Grand Dukes Mikhail Nikolaevich and Vladimir Nikolaevich, who was then the president of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Next to them are persons who held the most important positions in the state. In total, the painting depicts 81 people.
Probably the Russian Museum should be one of the main items on the list of visiting attractions in St. Petersburg. Especially if you come to the Northern capital for one, two or a little more days. "Why?" - you ask.
First of all: there is a truly wonderful collection here. best works Russian artists, sculptors and folk craftsmen.
Secondly: in the Russian Museum there is no such excitement and pandemonium as in the Hermitage, and the atmosphere of the museum evokes a feeling of calm and peace of mind.
Thirdly: it’s very easy to get here (no need to stand in huge queues for a ticket).
Russian Museum. More recently, when uttering these words, both townspeople and guests of the city meant only beautiful building in the Empire style on Arts Square. The first one opened in the Mikhailovsky Palace in 1898 state museum national art, and here the main exhibitions of the museum are located. But for last years The museum includes three more palaces with a significant historical and cultural past.
So, the Russian Museum consists of four buildings: Stroganov Palace, Marble Palace, Mikhailovsky Palace and Mikhailovsky (engineering) Castle. All these palaces are located in different places in St. Petersburg and have the words “Russian Museum” in their names.
To avoid confusion, we will call the main building of the Russian Museum the Mikhailovsky Palace, located at Inzhenernaya Street, 4. It is here that the main halls and exhibitions of the State Russian Museum are located. This is exactly where guests of St. Petersburg who arrive in the Northern capital for the first time want to go.
How to get to the Main building of the Russian Museum.
The palace is very easy to get to from the Nevsky Prospekt metro station (2nd, blue line).
After leaving the metro, follow (follow the red arrow) along Mikhailovskaya Street towards the monument to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, located on Arts Square.
Immediately behind the monument you will see the Main building of the Russian Museum - Mikhailovsky Palace.
Opening hours of the Main building of the Russian Museum:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday - from 10-00 to 18-00.
Thursday from 13-00 to 21-00.
Tuesday is a day off.
The ticket office closes half an hour before the museum closes.
No matter how pleasant it would be to enter the museum through the front entrance, all visitors, according to Soviet-Russian tradition, will have to enter through the back entrance. A small sign near the marble staircase with lions will inform you about this.
Below is a diagram Mikhailovsky Palace. It consists of three main parts: the Benois Wing, the Russian Wing and, directly, the Mikhailovsky Palace itself.
You can also get to the Main Building of the Russian Museum through the second entrance in the Benois building.
The photo below makes it possible to quickly find out where the second entrance is located - on the Griboyedov Canal Embankment, next to the Resurrection Cathedral (Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood).
Both entrances will lead you to the ticket office, where you need to buy tickets to visit the Russian Museum.
For adult citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, a ticket will cost 350 rubles, for students over 16 years old, students and pensioners - 170 rubles, for children under 16 years old (regardless of citizenship) - free.
Be sure to pick up a free layout of the exhibitions from the ticket office or from the museum staff. It will make it easier for you to build your route.
After the ticket office, following the signs, you find yourself on the main staircase of the museum. Here you can meet groups of schoolchildren.
If you come to a discovery, then you can use a little trick for a more comfortable viewing experience. The beginning of the exhibition, according to the signs, is to the right of the stairs on the second floor. But if you go to left side, then you will be practically in all alone consider magnificent paintings K. Bryulov, A. Ivanov, I. Aivozovsky and others. Then, in any case, you will look at the beginning of the exhibition.
F. Bruni "The Copper Serpent".
Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky “Wave”.
Painting by Karl Pavlovich Bryullov “The Last Day of Pompeii”. Nicholas I awarded the artist a laurel wreath, and the latter began to be called “Charlemagne.”
I.K. Aivazovsky "The Ninth Wave".
Grigory Ivanovich Ugryumov “The ceremonial entry of Alexander Nevsky into the city of Pskov after his victory over the Germans.”
Pay attention to the faces of two “harmless” Europeans captured by Alexander Nevsky, who executed several thousand Russian people.
O. A. Kiprensky “Portrait of Life Hussar Colonel Evgraf Vasilyevich Davydov.” This is a relative famous hero Patriotic War of 1812 by Denis Vasilyevich Davydov.
P.P. Sokolov "The Milkmaid with a Broken Jug."
Interiors of the premises of the Mikhailovsky Palace.
F.I. Shubin "Catherine II the Legislator".
Portraits of children.
Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky “Catherine II the Lawgiver.”
The sculpture of M. I. Kozlovsky “Psyche”, often called “Girl with a Butterfly”. According to legend, Aphrodite herself was jealous of the beauty of young Psyche.
N.N. Vitali "Venus".
Tourists take photographs with great enthusiasm, holding Catherine II's hand.
Boris Vasilievich Sukhodolsky “Painting”.
I am very pleased with the large number of children here. For them, the employees of the Russian Museum tell interesting, memorable stories.
Anton Pavlovich Losenko “Wonderful catch”.
After visiting the halls of the Mikhailovsky Palace, you will be taken to the Russian Wing, where you will see in person the paintings familiar from childhood.
Viktor Vasnetsov “The Knight at the Crossroads.”
V. I. Surikov “Stepan Razin”. The artist managed to show the inner tension of the Russian rebel hero.
A small painting by Vasily Surikov “View of the monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg” is mesmerizing.
Vasily Surikov “Suvorov’s Crossing of the Alps” (painting size 4 by 5 meters). Here is a real military leader, together with his soldiers, storming the Alps to quickly help “our beloved” Europeans. Who in Europe now will remember the exploits of our soldiers?
Ilya Efimovich Repin. "Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II" 1896.
Portrait last emperor Russia. It seems that Nicholas II already knows about his fate...
Ilya Efimovich Repin “The ceremonial meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901 in honor of the centenary.”
V. I. Surikov “Conquest of Siberia by Ermak.”
And these are Ermak’s comrades with muskets conquering the north.
In the film “Letter to the Turkish Sultan,” all the characters attract attention. Repin worked on the image of each Cossack individually, so each hero of the picture turned out to have his own character.
Ilya Repin “Seeing off a recruit.” There is so much tragedy in the picture. Young man sent to the army for a long 25 years.
Opposite I. Repin’s painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga” there are always many visitors; there is a comfortable soft sofa here.
At Sadko, schoolchildren were told about the film in German.
But the picture is a contradiction. Victor Vasnetsov. Painting "Battle of the Scythians with the Slavs."
Firstly: the Scythians are the ancestors of the Slavs. Secondly: the Scythians and Slavs are separated by several centuries.
This turns out to be a fight between a great-great-grandfather and his grandson. Since the Middle Ages, all evidence has been destroyed ancient origin peoples inhabiting modern Russia.
Here short excerpt from the work of Professor Anatoly Alekseevich Klyosov:
“Unfortunately, in Russian historical science the destructive, destructive approach traditionally continues, whether it concerns Normanism or other periods national history. Only sources that downplay the role of the Slavs in historical processes. There is no “Historiography” by M. Orbini in this circulation, there are no works of the Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Bohusz (Stanislaw Bohusz, 1731-1826), an outstanding educator, in one of whose works - “ Historical research origin of the Slavs and Sarmatians” - describes the Slavs living in ancient times from Syria to the Pontus Euxine (Black Sea). There are not dozens of other books that became classics in antiquity or the Middle Ages, which tell about the Slavs of past millennia. There is a whole library of Serbian historians of the past about this, in which those whom Russian (and Western) historians call “Scythians” are called Slavs. If historians have objections to this, where are they? Or do they live by the saying “I see nothing, hear nothing, tell nothing to anyone”?”
Ilya Repin “Nicholas of Myra saves three innocently convicted people from death.” It is with this painting that the Russian Museum under Alexander III begins.
Lukian Vasilievich Popov “Naimichka”. The girl will spend her entire childhood caring for someone else’s child...
It feels like Leo Tolstoy is about to get up and walk.
Nikolai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko
Alexey Danilovich Kivshenko “Sorting feathers.” The girls stuffing pillows with feathers argued a little...
Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky "Transfer of the sacred carpet in Cairo."
Each painting contains a story. Here is a painting by Vladimir Makovsky “The Night House”. A cold storm is heading towards St. Petersburg. Homeless people are trying to get into the shelter, everyone is freezing and they understand that there is not enough space for everyone.
In this old man in a hat and scarf with a folder in his hands, you can recognize the artist A.K. Savrasov. This remarkable painter spent the end of his life in loneliness and poverty, surviving on rare orders, wandering around corners and slums.
A little girl with bare legs in huge boots is crying, perhaps this is the last night of her life. But no one can help her...
This is a nice touch to the numerous contemporary articles “How well they lived under the Tsar.”
K.E. Makovsky "Family Portrait".
The next painting recently hung next to the “Blanket House”; it depicts the family of Vladimir Makovsky’s brother. The girls are the same age as the child in the previous picture, but by their origin they deserve a life of prosperity. Now these paintings have been placed further away from each other, in different rooms.
I.I. Shishkin " Ship Grove" The works of this artist are immediately recognizable.
Vasily Vereshchagin “Shipka-Sheinovo (Skobelev near Shipka).” A small fragment of the Victory celebration.
But here are the Russian soldiers who remained forever to lie for the freedom of the Bulgarians.
Vasily Perov "Pugachev's Court". The bodies of the executed nobles lie next to the “judge”.
Vasily Grigorievich Perov “Monastery meal”. Good picture about the life of people in robes.
Henryk Semiradsky "Phryne at the Festival of Poseidon in Eleusis." In the ancient Greek city of Megara, 2500 years ago, there lived a woman named Phryne. Her beauty and amazing white skin for a southern country amazed many artists and sculptors. A sculpture of Aphrodite of Knidos was sculpted from it and Aphrodite Anadyomena was painted. In the picture, she herself takes off her clothes so that everyone can be blinded by her beauty.
K.D. Flavitsky "Christian martyrs in the Colosseum." The first Christians were subjected to severe torture. The picture shows how they drag little boy into the arena with wild animals. “If your God protects you, let him save you from being torn apart by lions,” with these words they led the Christians to death to the jubilant cries of 100,000 Roman spectators.
Russian hero.
Adrian Volkov "The Death of Ivan Susanin."
V. Jacobi “Ice House”. A funny wedding on the orders of Anna Ioanovna in the ice palace.
A.P. Ryabushkin “Moscow street of the 17th century on a holiday.” Roads... How little they have changed over several centuries in Russia.
Leonid Posen “Scythian” is a distant ancestor of the Russians, whom they want to “eradicate” from our history.
The Russian Museum has a wonderful display of products by Russian craftsmen. The entire right wing on the first floor of the Mikhailovsky Palace is occupied outstanding works ancient and modern masters.
Just imagine how much work and skill is needed to carve such an openwork box from bone.
Or here interesting job made of wood “How mice buried a cat” (late 19th century).
In that a short story about the State Russian Museum, we showed you only a small part of the presented paintings, sculptures, and works. It will take several days to carefully examine all the museum’s exhibitions.
A little history: The main building of the Russian Museum.
“In terms of the grandeur of its external appearance, this palace will serve as a decoration for St. Petersburg, and in terms of the elegance of the taste of its interior decoration, it can be considered among the best European palaces...”, wrote the magazine “Domestic Notes” in 1825. That year, every self-respecting St. Petersburger was sure to visit here, at the just completed Mikhailovsky Palace, built by the architect Carl Rossi for Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich and his wife Elena Pavlovna. Now this is the main building of the Russian Museum. The White Hall is the only room that was preserved after the palace was rebuilt for the needs of the museum exactly as it was under Russia. Beautiful girls seated on chariots - the Muses, daughters of the goddess of memory Mnemosyne and Zeus, are depicted on the ceiling lamp; Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna was fond of painting, music, and poetry. The paintings were done beautifully Italian artists Giacomo Batisto Scotti and Antonio Vigi. Everything else is the fruit of the labor of Russian craftsmen: carpenter Bobkov, bronzer Zakharov, furniture and parquet makers Znamensky and Tarasov, sculptor Stepan Pimenov. The White Hall is a true masterpiece in which Rossi thought through absolutely everything, from the arrangement of columns to the smallest details ornament and ceremonial service. Fortunately, all this has been preserved: the picturesque wall paintings, sculptural decoration, typesetting parquet - everything remains from the time of Russia. Even the furniture is in the same places (its quantity and location were determined by the architect himself). The hall was so good that the English King George even asked to make a small copy of it.
But not only yours appearance the famous White Hall. Here was the famous music salon of the Grand Duchess. Russian musical society, thanks to which the first music classes, and then the first conservatory in Russia, was born right here, at these evenings. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky made his debut as a conductor at the Mikhailovsky Palace, and Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, and Mikhail Glinka performed their works here. These walls heard the voices of Vasily Zhukovsky and Ivan Krylov. For many years the salon was one of the most important culminating centers of the capital.
"Musical and artistic evenings at Grand Duchess were extremely interesting,” recalled their first participant, famous composer, pianist Anton Rubinstein. — The best artists who ended up in St. Petersburg gathered here. Often among the guests was the majestic figure of Emperor Nicholas.”
