Russian Museum

Saint Petersburg, Russia

The State Russian Museum (formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III) is the largest depository of Russian fine art in St Petersburg. The museum was established in 1895, upon enthronement of Nicholas II to commemorate his father, Alexander III. Its original collection was composed of artworks taken from the Hermitage Museum, Alexander Palace, and the Imperial Academy of Arts. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, many private collections were nationalized and relocated to the Russian Museum. These included Kazimir Malevich's Black Square.

The main building of the museum is the Mikhailovsky Palace, a splendid Neoclassical 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 assigned to the Russian museum include the Summer Palace of Peter I (1710–14), the Marble Palace of Count Orlov (1768–85), St Michael's Castle of Emperor Paul (1797–1801), and the Rastrelliesque Stroganov Palace on the Nevsky Prospekt (1752–54).

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Details

Founded: 1895
Category: Museums in Russia

Rating

4.8/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

iRINA Yakimchuk (11 months ago)
Amazing!!!! An obligatory visit. Any international visitor will discover not only Ryssian paintings and different schools / styles, but a lot about the history. The Mikhailovsky Palace, Art Square and the views from Mikhailovsky Park, ... the surroundings are absolutely awesome, ❤️ ? ?
Mikhail Kovalkov (2 years ago)
Along with the Tretiakov gallery in Moscow the largest complete collection of Russian fine art. The panorama of artworks unfolding since the 12th century to the present day. Apart from the Mikhailovsky palace the museum's collections are also located in the Marble and Stroganov palaces, as well as in the Engeneer's Castle, where a gallery of historical portraits is seen. It takes a couple of days to visit all collections.
Aleks Matveev (2 years ago)
Mikhailovsky Corps. The best museum of art, feel free to reserve 3-4 hours of free time among art. Old Russian art, fine arts, Soviet art and the department of the latest trends. Tickets can be bought online or at the door.
Ahmet İhsan Kaya (4 years ago)
The museum hosts paintings, sculptures and other artifacts mostly from 19. century. This is the place where you can see the traditional Russian art and paintings. Pity to see that Russian art reached its peak in the 19th century and halted as soon as the Soviet revolution took place. At least they preserved their finest collections and present in this museum.
Lee Yan (4 years ago)
Museum filled with impressive and versatile arts. You start with super cool classics like Semiradsky, Vasnetsov, Shishkin and Aivazovsky, continue through statues and portraits, go through some more modern and weird things, and end up with royal furniture and old Russian utensils. Sometimes some of the key items are out of there, so maybe need to check up beforehand (I visited the place twice and never saw the Ninth Wave painting, as it was in Japan and Spain along with other paintings). A lot of information can be obtained with your smartphone, the personnel is polite. This is definitely one of Saint Pete’s must sees.
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