RUSSIAN MUSEUM

On Friday, August 31st, I accompanied Andrea on a research mission to the Russian Museum.

This is a fantastic holding of Russian art, superior I believe, to the vast holdings of the Hermitage in terms of the quality of strictly Russian art. I even enjoyed the old, icon paintings, which I typically find uninspiring in their simplicity and subject matter.

Officially, the Russian Museum is comprised of the Mikhailovsky Palace, the Stroganov (visited Saturday, photos to follow in next blog post), the Marble Palace, Michael's (Engineering) Castle and the Summer Gardens (already visited).

I did not take a lot of photos, but here are a few.

MIKHAILOVSKY PALACE - PRIMARY HOLDING SITE OF THE RUSSIAN MUSEUM. IT WAS ORIGINALLY BUILT BY CARLO ROSSI FOR GRAND DUKE MICHAEL, THE YOUNGER SON OF TSAR PAUL AND BROTHER OF TSARS ALEXANDER I AND NICHOLAS 1.

A CANDELABRA I FOUND VERY INTERESTING.

ANDREA TOOK THIS PHOTO IN TRIBUTE TO CRICKET - SEE THE WHITE DOG?

ANDREA TOOK THIS PHOTO IN TRIBUTE TO VIXEN. SHE MISSES VIXEN AND CRICKET SOMETHING FIERCE.

ANDREA BY ONE OF HER ALL-TIME FAVORITE PAINTINGS - THE WRITER/POET ANNA AKHMATOVA PAINTED BY NATHAN ALTMAN.

ANDREA WANTED THIS PHOTO IN HONOR OF PETE AND HIS AERONAUTICAL EXPLOITS.

GRAND STAIRCASE IN MUSEUM'S MAIN FOYER.

BUST OF ALEXANDER III, FOR WHOM THE MUSEUM IS NAMED. THE SATE OPENED THE MUSEUM IN 1898 AND APPROPRIATED SOME WORKS FROM THE HERMITAGE, ACADEMY OF ARTS AND ROYAL PALACES.