In ancient Greece, this place (museon) was traditionally dedicated to muses and was located, as a rule, in sacred groves or temples. In the mythology of the Greeks, the muses were the patrons of art, poetry, science - hence the meaning of the sacred space, where they should be venerated in every way. The very word "museum" appears in everyday life during the Renaissance in Europe. There, museums are called buildings and institutions designed to store outstanding works of science and art created by mankind.
What is an art museum?
Museums are different: historical and technical, literary and dedicated to specific ethnic groups or countries, communities or personalities. Art museums occupy a special place among all. Here, as a rule, works of art, fine and decorative, are exhibited for display: paintings and sculptures, engravings and drawings, tapestries and carpets, ceramics and fabrics. In modern museums, not only the storage and display of exhibits is carried out, but also their comprehensive study, as well as the restoration of monuments of highly artistic significance.
Art Museums of Russia (Rus)
A bit of history. Museum business has a thousand-year continuity in Russia. In Kievan Rus, for example, in the cathedrals and monasteries of some cities, rich fabrics, jewelery, books (manuscripts) in precious salaries of gold and silver adorned with gems were found and preserved. And in the sacristy of the churches the richest collections were kept. So, in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (Sergiev Posad) there was a collection of paintings and applied art. And from the 16th century, the richest and most interesting collection of the Armory in the Kremlin of Moscow began to be created. It is possible to say that the art museums of Russia originate from it. The Armory is the oldest museum that was officially created in 1806, but existed long before that. Now it is part of the Kremlin museums.
Kunstkamera and private collections
The very first Russian public museum can also be considered the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg, created on the initiative of Tsar Peter in 1714. Its opening took place in 1719. True, the Kunstkamera is not quite an art museum. In addition to works of art, various natural science exhibits that Peter acquired during his trips abroad, or found in Russian territories, were presented there. The largest private collections were collected in the Winter Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Peterhof and Pavlovsk (after the revolution, all these estates and palaces were nationalized and turned into art museums in Russia). Thus, the museum-estate Arkhangelskoye, Kuskovo and some others appeared.
Hermitage
Russian art museums are an important milestone in the development of the country's culture. So, in 1764 large collections of paintings were acquired, which was one of the first steps in creating the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
However, not everyone could look at works of art at that time: access to the Hermitage, as, incidentally, to many private collections of the time, was very limited. And only in the 19th century (in the second half), thanks to the efforts of the Russian intelligentsia, who fought for the publicity and openness of such institutions, were accesses to the treasures of the Hermitage and some private collections (Pryanishnikov, Tretyakov, Ostroukhov) open.
