Imperial Academy of Arts. The Imperial Academy of Arts is founded The Imperial Academy of Arts

The Academy, born in the era of classicism, played a huge role in the development of Russian art. Among its first graduates were such masters of classicist painting and sculpture as A. P. Losenko, G. I. Ugryumov, F. G. Gordeev, F. I. Shubin, M. I. Kozlovsky, I. P. Prokofiev, F. F. Shchedrin. The beginning of the 19th century in the history of the Academy of Arts is associated with the names of the most famous Russian painters O. A. Kiprensky, A. A. Ivanov, K. P. Bryullov. Under the influence of the pedagogical system of Bryullov, who taught at the Academy, the creativity of T. G. Shevchenko and P. A. Fedotov was formed, with whose works the era began critical realism in Russian art. High professionalism of the second academic school half of the 19th century century embodied in pedagogical activity P. P. Chistyakova. His beneficial influence was felt by many students of the Academy, who over time grew into major masters of art at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. Among them are I. E. Repin and V. I. Surikov, V. D. Polenov and V. M. Vasnetsov, V. A. Serov and B. M. Kustodiev.
The construction of the majestic building of the Academy of Arts is associated with the names of a number of its students and teachers. It was designed by A.F. Kokorinov and J.-B. Vallin-Delamot, who led its architectural class in the first years after the creation of the Academy. The architects decided to plan the Academy building in the form of a square, which is formed by four three-story buildings. In the middle there is another building - ring-shaped in plan, bounding an internal round courtyard. The main façade of the building faces the Neva; The Doric order, which unites the two upper floors, makes its appearance strict and majestic - in full agreement with the important social purpose of the Academy. The first floor with large semi-circular windows is treated as a massive basement. In the center is the portico of the main entrance, between the columns of which there are statues of Hercules and Flora - copies of ancient originals. The wings are symmetrical relative to the center and also end with porticoes. The construction of the opposite facade facing the garden is similar. The facades along the 3rd and 4th lines were designed in an extremely simple manner.
The Academy of Arts was one of the first St. Petersburg buildings whose architecture embodied the principles of classicism. But the appearance of the building also shows the influence of the Baroque. It manifested itself, in particular, in the use of curvilinear forms in the building plan. The transition from the wings to the central projection of the main facade is distinguished by an almost baroque complexity of plasticity. The shape of the crowning dome is equally complex.
And the interiors of the Academy of Arts combine architectural techniques, different in origin. There is no doubt the influence of Baroque in the composition of the first floor lobby - round in plan and covered with an umbrella dome. In contrast to this small interior, the front upper lobby, where two smoothly curving flights of stairs lead, seems especially spacious and bright. Its space is organized by the free rhythm of widely spaced Ionic columns supporting the choir. The bas-relief panels on the walls, most of which were created by I. P. Prokofiev, statues installed in niches, and plaster casts of antique vases decorating the balcony balustrade are in good agreement with the order forms.
The construction of the Academy of Arts building, which began in 1764, was completed only twenty-five years later. And reconstruction of the interior continued later. Connected to the second floor lobby is the Academy's round conference hall, covered with a dome, located in the center of a suite of state rooms stretching along the main facade. The existing decoration of the walls of the conference room dates back to the 60s of the last century, but it is based on the compositional scheme developed by Kokorinov and Delamot. In the 30s of the 19th century, the dome of the conference hall was decorated with a multi-figure painting depicting the “Celebration on Olympus on the occasion of the establishment of fine arts in Russia”; it was performed by the painter V.K. Shebuev. In those same years, according to the design of the architect K. A. Ton, the rest of the halls of the front suite were decorated, which have survived to this day without major changes. The two-height galleries, symmetrical relative to the conference hall, are named after the Raphael and Titian halls: copies are placed on their walls famous frescoes Raphael from the Vatican Palace, paintings by Titian, Guido Reni, Guercino and other outstanding Italian masters. The creation of these copies dates back to the first half of the 19th century; among their performers were students of the Academy of Arts, who later became its leading teachers - K. P. Bryullov, F. A. Bruni, A. T. Markov, P. V. Basin.
Among the most significant interiors of the Academy of Arts is the Cast Iron Staircase, located next to the main lobby. It was built according to the design of the architect A. A. Mikhailov in 1819. The composition of the staircase includes large panels and high reliefs, allegorically revealing the purpose of the building. These are works by the greatest masters of the Academy of Arts of the Classical era - sculptors I. P. Prokofiev, I. P. Martos, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky, painters V. K. Shebuev, A. I. Ivanov, A. E. Egorov and S. A. Bessonova.
The ceremonial interiors of the building are an integral part of the academic museum, the exhibits of which tell the history of the oldest art school in the country.
The Museum of the Academy of Arts occupies three floors of the “compass” - an internal round building. The ground floor houses a large collection of plaster casts from around the world. famous monuments sculptures ancient East and antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Drawing from plaster has always been a good school for aspiring artists, and the casts collected at the Academy of Arts have invariably fulfilled and continue to fulfill their important educational purpose. But in addition, they are also excellent textbooks on the history of art; in the halls of the museum you can see statues of Egyptian pharaohs, reliefs of the Parthenon, the Nike of Samothrace, “Laocoon”, the frieze of the Pergamon Altar, the “Gates of Heaven” of the Florentine Baptistery.
The exhibition on the second floor of the academic “compass” is made up of educational works by students of the Academy of Arts - from the first drawings from life to graduation works. Performed in different years paintings, reliefs, statues, engravings speak of the loyalty of the students of the academic school to traditions great art and at the same time testify to their tireless striving for perfection, for the search for new forms and subjects, which the changing life suggested to the artists.
On the third floor of the “compass” there is architectural museum. Its exposition presents measurements of monuments of ancient Russian architecture, projects of the largest architects of our country. Unique design models, including a model of the Smolny Monastery with a magnificent multi-tiered bell tower and a model of the Academy of Arts building, make this exhibition especially interesting.

© Architectural and artistic monuments of Leningrad, “Iskusstvo”, Leningrad, 1982.

The Museum of the Academy of Arts is one of the oldest art collections in St. Petersburg and the first public museum in Russia. Established almost simultaneously with the Academy itself, founded by Count I.I. Shuvalov in 1757 during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, from the very beginning it had the goal of educating future artists using perfect examples of art. The basis of the collection was the collection of Shuvalov himself, which included about a hundred paintings and drawings by European masters. Further history The museum has developed in such a way that now only one work remains from this collection - the painting by the Venetian master A. Celesti “Massacre of the Innocents”.

Catherine II, who ascended the throne in 1764, granted staff, charter and privileges to the Imperial Academy of Arts (under Elizabeth Petrovna, the “Academy of the Three Noble Arts” was a department of Moscow University). The original charter, written on parchment and personally signed by the monarch, is currently kept in the funds. It was created by a group of artists and craftsmen based on sketches and under the guidance of the painter G.I. Kozlov and is a most interesting example of the art of that time. The text of the Privilege was announced at the inauguration of the Academy on July 7, 1765 by its conference secretary A.M. Saltykov. The dedication ceremony itself, with the laying of the future stone building and the consecration of the church, took place in an old wooden building, adapted for students’ classes (three houses, located on the Neva embankment between the 3rd and 4th lines of Vasilievsky Island, were united by a common facade). From 1764 to 1788, construction of the current Academy building, designed by the architect J.B. Wallen-Delamotte in the style of early classicism, took place on this site. The celebration was attended not only by teachers and students - for whom cherry-colored caftans and uniforms were sewn especially for this day - but also famous artists, as well as military leaders, nobles, ambassadors, state ladies and ladies-in-waiting of the court. The Academy was decorated outside and inside with garlands of flowers; There were two imperial yachts on the Neva, from which cannons were fired. The young queen gave the whole ceremony the character of an event of national importance - initially the celebration was scheduled for June 28 (the day of Catherine Alekseevna's accession to the throne) 1764, then postponed exactly a year - but again slightly postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. However, all this happened without Shuvalov, who went - not of his own free will - to long term abroad. An experienced courtier and admirer of the ideas of French enlighteners, I.I. Betskaya, was appointed president of the Academy, who founded the Educational School at the Academy, which existed until 1797. Recruited from the families of artisans, small employees and soldiers, five- and six-year-old boys studied not only painting, sculpture, architecture, engraving, but also medal making, jewelry, watchmaking, casting, plumbing and carpentry, singing, music and dancing. The full course took 15 years, during which the student could not meet with his parents. The children lived in the Academy itself. The president considered the main task to be the need to create “a new breed of people, free from the shortcomings of society,” therefore one of the most important subjects was education. Students who did not show any special talent for painting or sculpture could immediately find themselves in some other artistic craft at the Academy. With the assistance of Betsky, a theater was opened, where the performances were directed by the actor Ya. Shumsky, and the students themselves played and made the scenery.

In 1786, a foundry opened, where statues were cast for palaces and suburban residences. In the period from 1770 to 1786, ten pupils were trained at Betsky’s expense (at that time admission took place every three years). The Museum's collection continued to grow - in 1765, more than forty works by the court painter I.-F. Grot, who led the class of "animals and birds" at the Academy, arrived from Tsarskoe Selo "for the benefit of the students." Now, out of this large number of paintings, only two paintings remain: “A Black Wolf Tormenting a Wild Goose” and a copy of F. Snyders’ “Bird Concert”. Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy himself bequeathed to the Academy “two cabinets with engraved antiques, very ancient, and with rare casts of images of various historical figures", made mainly by French artists.

The students were surrounded by works of art, located not only in the Museum, but also in the classrooms - in accordance with the ideals of the Enlightenment, it was believed that students should constantly see perfect examples. Copying the works of old masters was part of the program; color and composition were studied from them. Academicians also freely used the rich library, where drawings and engravings and luxuriously illustrated publications on art were kept. Among the first receipts were paintings and drawings brought to Russia by foreign teachers - the terms of the contract and the Regulations drawn up by I.I. Shuvalov provided for the free transfer of works of art by each visiting professor (more than 160 drawings were received from L.-J. LeLorrain, and from L.-J. Lagrene - 190. E.-M. Falconet, who worked on “The Bronze Horseman,” donated two paintings - “Pygmalion and Galatea” by F. Boucher and “The Ascension of the Madonna” by K. Vanloo).

In addition to the works donated by Empresses Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II from the Winter and Oranienbaum palaces, from Peterhof, the museum collection was replenished with paintings from private collections: thus, during the 1830s, paintings came from the collection of Count G.V. Orlov; works sequestered on the estate of Prince E. Sapega, and in 1836 - more than fifty paintings from the art gallery of Count V.V. Musin-Pushkin-Bruce, purchased by the state.

The importance attached to the development of the Imperial Academy of Arts by the monarchs encouraged wealthy nobles and foreign artists strive to be elected one of its honorary members. After being elected, you were required to send your portrait. Thus, a very interesting gallery of presidents, professors and honorary members was formed, located on the walls of the Council Hall, until 1917 transferred to the Museum itself. Some of it has survived to this day, but the most valuable portraits ended up in the Hermitage and the Russian Museum. Among the first honorary amateurs and honorary members were Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, Count A.S. Stroganov - President of the Academy of Arts in 1800–1811; Count G.G. Orlov, Count A.P. Shuvalov, N.I. Panin, Prince A.M. Golitsyn.

All presidents contributed to the development of the Academy to a greater or lesser extent. Count A.I. Musin-Pushkin, who replaced the deceased Betsky, donated his funds to encourage best works members of the Academy, presented on the day of its annual opening “for public viewing,” which took place in July. French diplomat, archaeologist, great expert on antiquity and author of scientific and literary studies on history Ancient Greece Count M.-G.-F.-O. Choiseul-Goufier, who fled to Russia from the revolution, was appointed by Paul I as director of the Public Library and president of the Academy of Arts. On his initiative, a free drawing class was established in 1798 “for free people of all ranks.”

WITH early XIX century, the Academy was engaged in “projects for decorating the capital and cities” of Russia. For many decades, “monuments of patriotic glory” could be erected only after its approval. The next president, Count A.S. Stroganov, a philanthropist and owner of one of the best art galleries, headed the Construction Commission for the construction of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. He took special care to ensure that this temple, built according to the design of A.N. Voronikhin, was erected and decorated by Russian craftsmen. For students of the architectural class, construction served as an excellent school of practical training. Sculptural and pictorial decoration was also carried out by academic artists, which was very important for the formation of the still young national art school. Stroganov's contribution to the development of the Academy can hardly be overestimated: with his active participation, two new classes were opened - medal class and painting restoration, and the teaching of scientific subjects was expanded. The Count contributed to the significant enrichment of the Museum’s collection and donated 150 drawings from the ceiling of the Versailles Gallery to the library, and provided benefits to students from his own funds. In honor of Stroganov, a medal was knocked out in 1807, the inscription on which read: “In memory of the benefits received under his leadership, the grateful Academy of Arts.”

The artistic tastes of the next president, A.N. Olenin, an expert on antiquity and the Renaissance, were formed in Germany under the influence of the ideas of Winckelmann and Lessing. Olenin was interested in archeology, was engaged in engraving, studied the basics of medal making and collected ancient monuments. Appointed director of the Imperial Public Library in 1811, he contributed greatly to its official opening “for the general benefit.” He was often visited by artists V.L. Borovikovsky, representatives of the Bryullov family, A.G. Venetsianov, A.G. Varnek, S.I. Galberg, F.I. Jordan, O.A. Kiprensky, I.I. Terebenev , I.P.Martos. Olenin was the author of a number of works, including “Brief historical information on the state of the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1764 to 1829." A zealous owner, he established an economic structure; construction work went on both inside the Academy itself (according to the design of A.A. Mikhailov, a cast-iron staircase was erected on the territory of the Museum, decorated with picturesque panels and high reliefs), and on the adjacent territory - in the academic garden, according to the design of the same architect, the construction of the “Antique Portico” began. Since the late 1820s, under the leadership of the architect K.A. Ton, work has been carried out to complete the finishing of the ceremonial interiors of the Academy; a collection of casts from ancient Greek sculpture was housed in the Antique Galleries. In front of the Academy, according to the design of K.A. Ton, a granite embankment was built and sphinxes taken from Egypt were installed. Alexey Nikolaevich revived music and dance evenings and theatrical performances. His presidency, which lasted about thirty years, mainly occurred during the era of Nicholas I, who thoroughly delved into all the affairs of the Academy and repeatedly contributed to the replenishment of the Museum’s art collection.

It was he who decided that the presidents of the Academy should henceforth be exclusively members of the imperial family. The first was Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg, the son of the Viceroy of Italy Eugene Beauharnais, the husband of the Tsar's beloved daughter Maria, who headed the Academy from 1843 to 1852. The Duke had extensive knowledge in the field natural sciences, developed ideas about engraving from galvanoplastic boards. Under him, the Mosaic Institution was opened, the Moscow Art School, private drawing schools in Saransk, Warsaw, Kyiv appeared, which the Academy patronized and helped in every possible way teaching aids. The Duke had the idea, implemented within the academic walls in 1851: organizing the first exhibition of works from private collections in the history of Russia. In addition to the Stroganovs, Musins-Pushkins, Shuvalovs, Lobanovs-Rostovskys and Sheremetevs, it was attended not only by major collectors (O. Montferrand, F.I. Pryanishnikov and others), but also representatives of various social strata, invited through advertisements in newspapers to accept participation in " Art exhibition rare things belonging to private individuals...” More than a thousand exhibits were selected and housed in the First and Second Antique Galleries (now the Titian and Raphael Halls of the Museum), in the Big and Small Libraries (later rebuilt, and their functions changed - instead of the Big Library, Pimenovsky was made hall), as well as in the “circular” halls (a suite of halls along a circular courtyard), where, since the second half of the 19th century, temporary exhibitions were no longer held and where visitors got acquainted with the permanent exhibition of the Museum.

Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, who succeeded her deceased husband as president of the Academy, in 1861 organized an exhibition of rare works of art from imperial palaces and private collections, continuing the noble idea of ​​the Duke of Leuchtenberg (the owner of a wonderful family art gallery). Both exhibitions were of a charitable nature - if the first was organized to promote the Society for Visiting the Poor, then the proceeds from the sale of works from the 1861 exhibition were used to build a shelter for the “insufficient” students of the Academy.

The most valuable addition to the Museum was the collection of Count N.A. Kushelev-Bezborodko, bequeathed to the Academy in 1862. It included 466 paintings and 29 sculptures (judging by the most complete catalog published in 1886). Fulfilling his will, part of the collection, giving it the status of a public gallery, was exhibited separately, in the halls of the second floor along the 3rd line, connected to the Museum of Painting through the Blue Hall. According to researchers, the best paintings in the family collection went to his elder brother, G.A. Kushelev-Bezborodko; Nikolai Alexandrovich had “The Adoration of the Magi” by P. Bruegel the Elder, “The Bean King” (“The King Drinks”) by J. Jordans, “Christ in Crown of Thorns” (“Behold the Man”) by P.P. Rubens, other paintings. However, the most valuable part of it for the students of the Academy turned out to be the modern painting of French masters: E. Delacroix, J.-F. Millet, G. Courbet, J.-B.C. Corot, T. Rousseau, C. Troyon. Paintings by these artists, who made a great contribution to the development of plein air painting, purchased by Nikolai Alexandrovich himself (mainly during his travels abroad), could now be seen in St. Petersburg not only at temporary exhibitions at the Academy and at the Society for the Promotion of Arts, but also permanently in Kushelevskaya Gallery (the Hermitage did not purchase works by contemporary European painters). Count N.A. Kushelev-Bezborodko also paid tribute to the domestic school: the works of I.K. Aivazovsky, A.P. Bogolyubov, F.A. Bruni, K.P. Bryullov, I.G. Goravsky, A. Ivanov (student Chernetsov), L.F. Lagorio, P.N. Orlova, M.M. Sazhina, N.E. Sverchkova, V.D. Sverchkova, L.V. Strashinsky, P.S. Shiltsov were also represented in the collection. V. G. Perov, N. N. Ge, I. E. Repin, K. A. Korovin, A. A. Rylov and A. N. Benois wrote about the significance of this unique gallery for future artists. It was the latter, perfectly understanding all its artistic and historical value, being the head Art gallery Hermitage in 1918, ordered the transfer of the academic gallery to the Hermitage, thereby violating the will of the owner, who donated his collection specifically to the Museum at a higher art educational institution. Later, several minor works that were previously part of it were returned to the Museum.

The example of Count N.A. Kushelev-Bezborodko inspired the heirs of other collections. Not all of the donated works were considered worthy of placement in the Academy itself. Quite a significant number of them were transferred to provincial art schools and museums, which were patronized by the Academy of Arts and the number of which increased greatly in the second half of the 19th century. The collections of M.N. Nikonov, director of the Chancellery of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and V.E. Krausold, transferred in the first years of the 20th century, were left at the Academy. However, if the paintings from Nikonov’s small collection, donated by his executor P.L. Vaksel, ended up in the fund, then Krausold’s collection of 72 paintings by G. Gigante, L. Izabe, A. Calama, G. Max and other famous Russian and various European masters schools, at the insistence of the heiress, was immediately placed next to the Kushelevskaya gallery, well complementing it in composition.

Almost from the very first years of the existence of the Academy of Arts, one of the most important tasks was the formation of a collection that would make it possible to trace all stages of the development of the Russian art school. The museum was replenished with the best educational (drawings, studies, sketches and programs), boarding (copies from the originals of European schools and own paintings, sculptors, drawings), as well as creative works of academic masters: A.P. Losenko, S.F. Shchedrin, G.I. Kozlov, G.I. Ugryumov, F.I. Shubin, P.I. Sokolov, M.I.Kozlovsky, I.P.Martos, I.P.Prokofiev, K.P.Bryullov, F.A.Bruni, I.E.Repin, V.I.Surikov, G.I.Semiradsky. Works by foreign artists were also received - honorary members and teachers of the Academy (including the French painters Le Lorrain, J.-F. Lagrene, J.-L. Moagnier, the Italian S. Torelli). At one time, I.I. Betskoy acquired a number of excellent drawings in Paris, among them a collection of sheets by J.-B. Greuze, which he bought from the author in the studio. Gradually, in the classes - full-scale, sketch, watercolor, mannequin, composition class - entire collections of the best educational works were formed, marked by the Council of Professors with high marks, medals and assigned “to the originals” - as models for subsequent generations students. This is how A.N. Benois recalled his short stay in the composition class: “The topic asked by the professorial board (always of a “historical” nature) was written out on a piece of paper, which was placed in a display case under the key, and next to it was revealed the famous costume feat of Hottenrot on that table showing the types of costumes of the corresponding era. The display case stood in the middle of a fairly large hall, all the walls of which were covered with drawings and watercolors, which at different times had earned the approval of the academic Areopagus. Next to Semiradsky’s spectacular sepia a la Gustave Doré, hung a completely strictly classical watercolor by Solntsev, depicting some episode from Byzantine history, etc. It was interesting to look at this collection, colorful in spirit, colors and techniques, dreaming that perhaps my composition would find a place here...among these “samples of great predecessors”....” At the end of the 19th century, all educational collections from the classrooms were transferred to the Museum .

Until 1917 academic art collection was divided into several museums - in the literature there is a division into the Museum of Painting, the Kushelev Gallery, the Museum of Sculpture, which consisted of originals, copies and casts, located mainly on the ground floor “along the compass”. Its foundation was laid by the arrival of antique sculptures and casts acquired by I.I. Shuvalov by order of Catherine II in Greece and Italy specifically for the Academy. Together with the works of sculptors E.-M. Falcone, A.-M. Collo and the gift of the author of “The Bronze Horseman,” which included copies of works of European sculpture of the 17th–18th centuries, they formed the core of the collection. Soon the Academy became the owner of a rare quality collection of “antique” forms, from which sculptures were cast in bronze at the Liteiny Yard, decorating the parks and palaces of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. In the 18th century, Admiral G.A. Spiridov presented those he had taken away during Russian-Turkish war from the Greek islands marble statues, heads and reliefs. At the beginning of the 19th century, the sculpture department expanded to include works by B.C. Rastrelli and the collection of the gentleman A.F. Farcetti. This Venetian nobleman, commander of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, in 1801 sent about 600 sculptural works, dedicating his gift to the Russian throne. His collection consisted of plaster and marble statues, busts, models of sculptures, terracotta bas-reliefs and forms of outstanding Italian sculptors of the Baroque and Renaissance - Michelangelo, G. L. Bernini, A. Algardi, F. Moderati. Russian sculpture of the 18th–19th centuries was arranged in the lobby of the second floor, “along the compass” and in the adjacent halls (starting with the works of the first head of the sculpture class N.-F. Gillet and his students F.I. Shubin, I.P. Prokofiev, M.I. Kozlovsky - to G.R. Zaleman and V.A. Beklemishev).

The collection of architectural drawings and models, which is now one of the best in Russia, also began to take shape in the 18th century. It was based on the album of the French master J.-F. Blondel, who designed the building of the Academy of Arts for Moscow. Later, the best projects of Academy graduates and its boarders were added (I.V. Neelova, V.I. Bazhenov, I.E. Starov and others), as well as drawings of class leaders (J.-B. Wallen-Delamotta, A.F. Kokorinov, Thomas de Tomon). The design wooden model of the building of the Academy of Arts, made by a group of carvers under the supervision of A.F. Kokorinov, arrived in 1766, twenty years later - a model of the Smolny Monastery, built according to the design of F.-B. Rastrelli (with an unrealized bell tower). During the presidency of A.S. Stroganov in 1800, by the highest order, all architectural models from the Imperial Hermitage were granted.

In 1910, the idea arose to create the “Museum of the Old Academy of Arts,” concentrating in it all the works associated with the beginning of its existence. Unfortunately, the museum was not created, but the premises facing the Neva embankment and making up the left side of the facade from the main entrance were given to the ever-growing Museum. In these lower halls, part of the exhibition of the most interesting “Historical Exhibition of Architecture and Art Industry”, organized in 1911 by the Society of Architects and Artists, unfolded.

At the Academy there was a Münz cabinet - a collection of medals and coins. Greek, Roman, Byzantine, European and Russian medals and coins, their facsimile imitations, and galvanoplastic photographs of rare medallions served as a good tool for studying the art of medallion.

Almost nothing has survived from the “Museum of Costumes and Writing Objects “nature morter””, which was started by President A.N. Olenin. Having established the “Rust Chamber or Costume Chamber”, he donated a collection of ancient French, Japanese and Russian weapons, household items of the peoples who inhabited the islands Pacific Ocean. Subsequently, with the establishment of the costume class, which arose as a private initiative of artists, the collection also grew. Thus, the vice-president of the Academy, Prince G.G. Gagarin, donated costumes of eastern peoples. This also included exhibits from the Museum of Ancient Russian Art, which was abolished in 1886 (or, as it was also called, the Museum of Christian Antiquities), located on the first floor along the 3rd line - caskets, boxes, chain mail, ancient costumes, church vestments. Grand Dukes Vladimir and Alexei Alexandrovich, Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. in 1871 donated ten costumes in which they participated in live paintings in the palace. At the end of the 19th century, the collection was replenished with acquired collections from painters P.N. Gruzinsky, N.D. Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, gifts from the head of the battle class G.P. Villevalde and professor V.E. Makovsky. With the introduction of a new Charter in 1898, the costume class was abolished, and since 1899 the museum was called the “Collection of Costumes of the Imperial Academy of Arts.”

For a long time, the museum collection and the Academy as an educational institution were a single whole; only gradually was the need for special museum storage of works of art realized, to which little attention was paid. Drawings, engravings, architectural drawings and projects were kept in the library, and for some period of time they were even handed out. Until the 1860s, the Museum and the library had one custodian, which could not but have a detrimental effect on the preservation of works. In archival documents there are repeated references to the write-off of “paintings that have fallen into disrepair” and the loss of paintings and drawings.

After 1917, the most dramatic period in the history of the Museum began. The Imperial Academy of Arts was completely abolished. On next year Higher artistic and technical workshops began work within its walls, in which K. Malevich, V. Tatlin, P. Filonov conducted an experiment to create new art. Since the need to study artistic heritage was completely rejected, the most valuable collections of paintings, drawings, and sculptures were disbanded. The bulk of them were distributed between the Russian Museum and the Hermitage. In the mid-1920s, the Museum on a short time was restored - this was due to a change of leadership at the Higher Art and Technical Institute (as the former Vkhutemas became known), and with the general political situation in the country. However, at the very end of the 1920s, changes began again at the institute, carried out by the new rector F.A. Maslov, whose name in the history of the Academy became a household name. Under his direct leadership, the destruction of all funds took place - the costume room, the anatomical cabinet, the mosaic workshop and the final ruin of the Museum, many of whose works were destroyed or given to the Russian Museum, to provincial collections, and the remaining ones to the State Fund for sale. The end of the “Maslovism” was put in the early 1930s. In the newly created All-Russian Academy of Arts, the revival of the classical system of training students begins. But it is practically impossible to achieve the return of works that previously belonged to the Museum. Masterpieces of old masters, the Kushelevskaya Gallery, and the collection of V.V. Musin-Pushkin-Bruce remain in the Hermitage. Even a cursory glance at the Museum’s catalog shows that, for example, the department French painting The 19th century is largely based on the academic collection - until 1917 it did not contain a single work by E. F. V. Delacroix or the masters of the Barbizon school. For the Museum of World Architecture being organized, the State Russian Museum gave away a number of architectural drawings on European architecture, refusing to return materials on Russian architecture, citing the desire to organize its own department. And only an order people's commissar enlightenment of the RSFSR in 1934 forced the Russian Museum to return at least part - 25 architectural models (Smolny, St. Isaac's and Kazan Cathedrals, churches of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery by T. Schwertfeger and I.E. Starov).

Thus, in the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the academic collection suffered irreparable damage, from which the departments of drawing, sculpture and especially painting (once the most significant) were never able to recover.

In 1947, the All-Russian Academy of Arts was transformed into the USSR Academy of Arts, the leadership of which began to be conducted from Moscow. It included on equal terms art institutes Leningrad and Moscow, as well as the Scientific Research Museum, Science Library and Scientific Bibliographic Archive (Leningrad), Scientific Research Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts (Moscow). Remaining a departmental institution whose activities are traditionally focused on working with students and art students educational institutions countries coming to undergo copy practice and specialization, the Museum received autonomy and was able to more professionally solve the problems facing it.

Currently, the Academy of Arts Museum has a small but good collection Western European painting and drawings of the 16th–19th centuries.

Most fully represented in the Museum educational work pupils of the Academy's painting, engraving, sculpture and architectural classes. However, the absence of significant works by the luminaries of Russian art does not allow us to show an objective picture of the development of the academic school of the 18th–20th centuries, which undoubtedly somewhat impoverishes permanent exhibition. Nevertheless, scientific work and the accompanying attributions allowed the Museum to hold such exhibitions as “Free Arts” (for the 240th anniversary of the Academy of Arts), “Across European Countries. Graduates of the Imperial Academy of Arts of the second half of the 18th–19th centuries abroad”, “Russian artists abroad. XX century"; participate in the most interesting international exhibitions.

The Museum is preparing to dedicate a large exhibition from the funds “Germans at the Academy of Arts” to the anniversary year of St. Petersburg, which will feature works German painters, architects, sculptors who worked in Russia in the 18th - early 20th centuries, taught at the Academy of Arts and participated in shaping the appearance of one of the great cities of the world.

The St. Petersburg Academy of Arts is a Russian higher educational art institution, founded in St. Petersburg in 1757, since 1764 it was officially called the Imperial Academy of Arts. The idea of ​​creating an “Academy of Sciences and Arts” in Russia was first expressed by Peter I the Great in the late 1690s. “The Academy of the Three Most Noble Arts,” a closed institution with departments of painting, sculpture and architecture, was established in St. Petersburg in 1757, during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, on the initiative of M.V. Lomonosov and Count I.I. Shuvalova. It was Shuvalov who became the first director of the academy, invited teachers from abroad, recruited the first students, and in 1758 donated his art collection to the academy, which laid the foundation for the library and museum. Classes opened in 1758, the first graduation took place in 1762. In 1764, Catherine II the Great approved the charter and staff of the academy, which received the status of the Imperial Academy of Arts. The Academy has become government agency, which regulated the artistic life of Russia, distributed official orders and awarded academic titles. The Academy received self-government - it was headed by the Council of Professors and the President.

In the same year, 1767, according to the design of architects J. B. Vallin-Delamot and A. F. Kokorinov, construction began on the stone building of the academy on the banks of the Neva, which was completed in 1788. In 1764, an educational school was opened at the academy, which accepted children 5 -6 years. After 9 years of study, students completed their education in one of the higher classes - history, portraiture, engraving, sculpture, architecture. Upon graduation, students had to complete a work on a given topic - a “program”. Since 1767, graduates of the academy awarded with a gold medal were sent to improve themselves abroad. Since the 1770s, exhibitions of works of art began to be held at the Imperial Academy of Arts.
In 1802, under President A. S. Stroganov, the academy’s charter was supplemented with new articles that increased its status in the field of social and artistic activities, establishing its leading role in all spheres artistic life. In particular, the academy received the right to engage in urban construction projects, including in the capital, to carry out architectural and art competitions. Teachers and students of the academy participated in the construction and decoration of the Kazan and St. Isaac's Cathedrals, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. The Academy initiated the founding of provincial art schools and colleges in which its graduates taught, as well as museums at art educational institutions.
In 1840, the Educational School was closed and only classrooms were left. Since 1843, only members of the imperial family have been appointed presidents. In 1847, a Mosaic Institution was established at the academy as part of the artistic and technical departments. According to the charter of 1859, the academy lost self-government and was subordinated to the Ministry of the Imperial Palace. During the rise of the democratic art movement, 13 of its graduates, led by I. N. Kramskoy, left the academy and created an independent association “Artel of Artists”.
Thanks to the activities of major teachers, including the outstanding teacher P. P. Chistyakov, the academy and in the 2nd half. 19th century retained its importance as the main school in Russia art education. In 1893 it was approved new charter, who returned self-government to the academy. Educational classes were transformed into Higher art school painting, sculpture and architecture (VKhU), in which workshops were opened led by outstanding artists I. E. Repin, V. E. Makovsky, I. I. Shishkin, A. I. Kuindzhi. IAH was given the right to approve projects monumental structures. The Academy Museum, founded by Count I. I. Shuvalov in 1758, during its existence has collected a valuable collection of Western European and Russian paintings, drawings, sculptures, architectural models and drawings, on which all generations of students studied. On the basis of this collection, the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III was founded in 1895.
In 1918 the academy was closed, part of the art collections was transferred to the State Hermitage. Instead of the VCU, after a series of transformations, the Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture was created in 1932. In 1933-1947 former buildings The IAH housed the All-Russian Academy of Arts, which was later transformed into the USSR Academy of Arts. These tasks house the museum, archive, and library of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Among the graduates of the Imperial Academy of Arts: A. P. Losenko, F. I. Shubin, V. I. Bazhenov, F. S. Rokotov, I. E. Starov, A. A. Ivanov,

VMC Church. Catherine

The stained glass windows were located in the center of the Antechamber in three slightly elongated windows with a semi-circular end and in three small windows above them. They were performed by Vladimir Dmitrievich Sverchkov, a graduate of the Academy of Arts. (Established in 1873). They were made using traditional glass painting techniques, which is typical of Sverchkov’s works. Great professionalism in this work is revealed both in the construction of the composition itself (the relationship between large and small spots, the subtle elaboration of the painting with the integrity of the overall perception), and in the drawing of details, the rich graphic development of the glass canvas, revealing a love for the texture of the material.

In the center of each stained glass window in the large windows there are allegorical figures depicted standing in niches, personifying forms of art and reminiscent of Roman gods in all their appearance and attire. The ornamental frame of all three figures is the same and, perhaps, differed only in color. Under each figure in the Renaissance cartouche there is a rectangular tablet with words denoting the allegory - respectively: painting, architecture, sculpture.

Above the three main stained glass windows depicting allegories of the arts, three small ones were placed in small round windows, with the monograms of Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine II, and the academic coat of arms.

All of the above stained glass windows were presumably lost in the first post-revolutionary years. Their loss is one of the largest for St. Petersburg in the field of glass painting.

The Library of the Academy of Arts was founded in 1757. It did not stop working during the Second World War. The library has 5 reading rooms.

(E. Yu. Ivanov, K. K. Sevastyanov “Lost Petersburg”)

Inclusion in the List of historical and cultural heritage federal (all-Russian) significance, located in St. Petersburg, approved by government decree Russian Federation dated July 10, 2001 No. 527