The Russian Museum

Directions of the Implementation:

1. Creation of the system of open depositary funds
2. Temporary exhibitions - rotation of funds
3. Publishing house of the museum
4. General catalogue of the museum collection

Goal: to ensure the access of the visitors and experts to the museum storages without endangering the security and safety of the museum collection.

In 1988 the museum presented 5435 works of art (1.6 % of its collection) at the permanent exposition and at 51 temporary exhibitions on the premises of the museum and outside.

In 1998 the museum presented 11174 works of art (3.5 % of its collection) at the permanent exhibition after the extension of the exhibition space and at the 78 temporary exhibitions inside and outside the museum walls. The free access to a certain part of the storages of Russian plastic art of the XVIII - XX centuries enabled the museum to enlarge the display of sculpture from 69 items (1.5 % of the collection of sculpture) as it was in 1988 to 597 works of plastic art (20% of the museum collection of sculpture).

In 2000 upon the completion of the Program the museum plans to present over 20000 works of art (over 5% of its collection) at the permanent exposition, at the exposition of the open depositary funds and its temporary exhibitions).

The Golden Treasure-trove

Area - 640 sq. m.
Number of exhibits - 250 items
Completion of the work - 2003

Plans are afoot to create a unique exposition of Russian applied art within the walls of the Russian Museum. The quantity and artistic quality of the works included in it are comparable to those of the Armoury and the Special Treasure-House in the State Hermitage.

The exposition will be comprised of two sections, the first of which "The Art of Ancient Rus". The high artistic standard of this collection results from both the advanced level of culture in Ancient Rus and the history behind the collection's formation. The collection was formed from donations made by Russia's leading collectors - Nikolai Likhachev, Mikhail Botkin, Vasily Vereschagin and Fyodor Plyushkin - as well as works from Rus's northern monasteries (St. Cyril of Belozersk, St. Alexander Svirsky, Solovetsky, Tikhvin and others). Amongst them are contributions from the royal workshops, made by wonderful masters.

The exposition will reflect all stages in the history of Old Russian applied art, as well as all the techniques and materials ever employed in Rus.

The exposition will open with one of the best collections of Old Russian Treasure - troves (X- XIII centuries) - jewelry, which belonged to the princes and town nobility of Kiev and other towns of Rus. This includes the famous golden decorations with enamel and works of silver with superb refined kernel and filigree. The pride of this collection is a gold serpentine amulet that belonged to Vladimir Monomakh.

Large value is represented by the section of ecclesiastical utensils from the treasure-houses of the rich northern monasteries of Rus. These are objects once belonging to religious figures and Tsarist contributions - the chalice of Patriarch Nikon, the glass of Patriarch Pitirim, Gospels in a precious setting presented by Tsar Fyodor Alexeyevich to the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin and a silver chalice presented by Ivan the Terrible to the Optina Monastery. Amongst the earliest examples of jeweled settings are the Gospels of Christophor, a student of Sr. Cyril of Belozersk. The lid from the tomb of St. Alexander Svirsky, founder of the monastery of the same name, is a rare monument of silver embossing.

Amongst precious objects of personal use are silver vessels that once belonged to the Tsarevich Alexis, son of Peter the Great, as well as wine-bowls and goblets that Anastasia Romanova, Ivan the Terrible's first wife, and Mikhail Romanov (first Romanov tsar) and his wife Yevdokia drank from.

A large section of the collection is composed of ecclesiastical works of gold and silk. Here are early XV century shrouds presented by Grand Duke Vasily I to the St. Cyril of Belozersk monastery, palls embroidered by Grand Duchess Solomonia Saburova (wife of Grand Duke Vasily III) and Anastasia Romanova (Ivan the Terrible's first wife), a shroud of Christ sewn by Boyaryna Yefrosinia Staritskaya (whose son was cousin to Ivan the Terrible), a shroud by Ivan the Terrible's aunt and crusade iconostasis embroidered by Grand Duchess Irina Fyodorovna, sister of Boris Godunov and wife of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. There are numerous objects from the workshop of Yevdokia Lukyanovna (wife of Tsar Mikhail Romanov), as well as works sewn by Maria Ilinichna (wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich) and tomb palls sewn by the sisters of Peter the Great - Maria and Sofia. There is a large collection of the XVIII century embroidery from the famous Stroganov workshop. The wives and daughters of the Stroganov salt merchants were master needle-women and the output of the Stroganov workshop rivaled that of its royal counterpart. Included here are a shroud of Christ dated 1592 and the embroidered shroud "The Tsarevich Dmitry" depicting the Stroganov's adopted patron saint. Another valuable section of the collection consists of the large collection of works of minor plastic arts from the X to XVII centuries, including miniature carvings on stone, ivory and wood, and gold, silver and copper castings.

The total cost of the project - $ 2 412 500
including:
lighting, electricity, technical equipment - $ 500 000 exposition display equipment - $ 1 200 000 restoration of exhibits - $ 12 500 ventilation and conditioning - $ 700 000