Description of the attraction
The oldest art collection in Russia is located in one of the beautiful buildings of the University Embankment in St. Petersburg. This building is the Academy of Arts, which houses the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts.
This museum was founded almost simultaneously with the Academy of Arts, in the middle of the 18th century, and very soon its collection became truly unique. Opened on the initiative of the first president of the Academy of Arts - Count Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov and full support - by special decree - of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the museum initially served as a place where the students of the Academy could admire examples of high art, study them, explore their features, and copy them. But very soon the museum outgrew this narrow framework and turned into the first publicly available collection of works of art. More than 250 years ago, it welcomed its first visitors.
The main part of the exposition was transferred in 1758 by Count Shuvalov, a large part of his remarkable collection of drawings, prints and paintings.
The building of the Academy of Arts, which housed the museum, was built in 1764 - 1772. designed by the teachers of the architectural department of the Academy of Arts - Delamot and Kokorinov. It is an outstanding architectural monument of early classicism in Russia and "a particularly valuable object of cultural heritage."
Currently, the museum's permanent exhibitions are located on all three floors of the so-called "compass" - the inner concentric building of the Academy of Arts building. The galleries forming the inner circular courtyard of the building, which is 55 meters in diameter, are a unique exhibition space.
On the ground floor there is a department of casts showing the masterpieces of antique sculpture, here are also models of monuments of antique architecture. No other collection can compete with this one in terms of artistic value and completeness of the presented samples, since many of these casts were made from originals as early as the 18th-19th centuries.
The second floor is occupied by an exposition reflecting the history of the Russian art school. Basically, here are the works performed by the students of the Academy during their studies, as well as their diploma and graduation works after completing their studies in architecture, painting, graphics or sculpture classes. It also displays works for which outstanding artists were awarded academic titles.
On the third floor you can see the exposition “Architecture of St. Petersburg in the 18th-19th centuries. in Models, Drawings and Drawings , which acquaints visitors with the works of famous architects of the past. Of particular interest are the unique models of the most notable architectural monuments of the northern capital - St. Isaac's Cathedral, Smolny Monastery, Stock Exchange, Mikhailovsky Castle and others.
The museum also owns the ceremonial halls located along the Nevsky facade of the majestic building of the Academy. Here you can see copies of paintings made in the 19th century by prominent Italian masters of the 16th-18th centuries. There are completely unique exhibits here. For example, a copy of the composition "The Assassination of St. Peter the Dominican", lost in the 19th century, is a masterpiece of the late work of the great Titian. You can also admire the almost completely reproduced cycle of paintings by Raphael in the stanzas of the Vatican Palace.
Nowadays, exhibitions of works of foreign and domestic masters of fine arts are constantly organized in the ceremonial halls. For the Museum of the Academy, it has become traditional to hold exhibitions of Summer Practice and Diploma Works of students and graduates of the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after I. E. Repin, the Spring Exhibition, demonstrating the creativity of the teachers of this educational institution.
