Now I present to you 3 photo albums dedicated to interiors and to some extent to the collections of the Russian Museum. I guess it would be more appropriate to say "to interiors of Mikhailovsky Palace", because at least formally the Russian Museum has grown beyond the Mikhailovsky Palace, and now includes Stroganov Palace, Marble Palace, and the latest addition of Summer Gardens (together with the Summer Palace).
But so far most people much better recognize name "Russian Museum" rather than "Mikhailovsky Palace".
Grand staircase from the main entrance hall to the second floor.
The plaque says:
“Emperor Alexander III Russian Museum, established on April 13, 1895 – opened on March 7, 1989”
The palace was built by architect Carlo Rossi in 1819-1825.
It is located on Square of Arts (subway station “Nevsky Prospekt”).
Its rear facade faces Mikhailovsky Garden and river Moika.
This palace was built for Grand Prince Mikhail Pavlovich (son of Emperor Pavel I); therefore it is called “Mikhailovsky”.
In 1895 it was bought out by the state, and after remodeling (designer V. Svinin) had become a museum.
In 1914-1919 the adjacent Exhibition Pavilion of the Academy of Arts was built along the Griboedova Canal. It’s called the Benois Wing (designed by L. Benois and S. Ovsyannikov).
Carlo Rossi was not the only designer of interiors.
Many masters contributed to it: sculptors Vasily Demut-Malinovsky and Stepan Pimenov, painters Pietro and Giovanni Batista Scotti, Antonio Vigi, Barnaba Medici, Friedrich Brullo, sculptors Nikita and Sergei Sayegin, carvers Vasily Zakharov and Vasily Bobkov, craftsmen Tarasovs and many others.
Second-floor gallery
View from the second-floor window to Mikhailovsky Street and to the statue of A. Pushkin on Square of Arts.
On the background is the clear view of Gostiny Dvor (“Courtyard”) just over the Nevsky Prospekt.
Model of Peter the Great’ head by Marie-Anne Collot, for the “Bronze Horseman” statue.
Vestibule by the first floor entrance.
Some chandeliers are certainly worthy of our special attention
In the next album we are going to walk through the palace.
