Are the mummies in the Pushkin Museum real? The main building of the Pushkin Museum – ii. Expositions and buildings of the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

State Museum fine arts them. A. S. Pushkin or, as it is more often called, the Pushkin Museum is one of the most significant museums in Moscow, which has collected within its walls a large collection of works of foreign art from ancient world to the present day.

The Pushkin Museum opened its doors for the first time on May 31, 1912. The inspirer and first director was Moscow University professor Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetaev. The initial collection was formed from copies of ancient sculptures and mosaics from the University Cabinet fine arts and genuine antiquities purchased from the famous Egyptologist V.S. Golenishcheva. Later, the halls were replenished with paintings transferred from other museums and works of art from private collections donated or confiscated after the revolution. Today, the Pushkin Museum’s collection includes more than 670,000 exhibits, of which only 1.5% are available for inspection.

Under the jurisdiction of the Pushkin Museum. Pushkin - a whole museum town located in historical center Moscow near Kropotkinskaya metro station. It includes several buildings, including:

• Main building
• Gallery of art from Europe and America of the 19th-20th centuries.
• Department of Personal Collections
• Museum-apartment of Svyatoslav Richter
• Center aesthetic education"Museion"
• Training Art Museum them. I.V. Tsvetaeva
• House of graphics

The main building is an architectural monument with a powerful colonnade and a glass roof, built 100 years ago specifically for the museum.

The exhibition here is located on two floors. The first contains genuine rarities of Ancient Egypt, ancient times, golden treasures of Ancient Troy from the excavations of archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, paintings by European masters of the 8th-18th centuries, there are Greek and Italian courtyards - large spaces with cast sculptures. On the second floor many rooms are devoted to copies of art objects Ancient Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In addition, original paintings by European artists are exhibited here.

The Egyptian Hall is one of the world's best collections of authentic objects from the times of Ancient Egypt: mummies, sarcophagi, masks, figurines, jewelry and vessels.

Wooden sarcophagus of the nobleman Mahu, holder of a plot of land of the Temple of Amun:

Amenhotep and Rannai - priest and priestess of the god Amun:

Sarcophagus and mummy of Khor-Kha. On foreground– cat mummy:

The next room is dedicated to the art of the Ancient Near East.

Figurine of an adorant from Northern Mesopotamia. Adorant is a figurine made of stone or clay that was placed in a temple so that it would pray for the person who placed it.

Halls of ancient art with a collection of Greek vases and amphorae, mosaics, sculptures and reliefs of Ancient Italy, Cyprus and Rome.

Antefix – ceramic tile with the Gorgon Medusa mask:

Items from the excavations of Panticapaeum - the capital of the Chimerian Bosporus:

The theme of antiquity continues in the Greek courtyard - big hall, filled with casts of famous ancient Greek statues, reliefs and architectural fragments.

Sleeping Ariadne. The marble original is kept in the Vatican.

Another courtyard is Italian, with casts of Renaissance masterpieces.

Equestrian statue – copy bronze monument to the commander-in-chief Bartolomeo Colleoni of Venice.

Michelangelo's famous David. The height of the sculpture is 5.5 meters.

One of the main pearls of the Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin - a collection of works by Rembrandt and artists of his school is located in room No. 10.

Rembrandt "Portrait of an Old Lady" and "Portrait of an Elderly Woman".

Exhibition of paintings Flemish painters 17th century - Rubens, Jordaens, Van Dyck, Bruegel.

Anthony Van Dyck "Portrait of Adrian Stevens". Flemish master of the early 17th century "Portrait of a Lady with a Fan".

"Ice Skating" by Hendrik Averkamp from the 17th century Dutch Art Hall.

Also on the ground floor, the permanent exhibition presents art from Byzantium, Italy from the 13th to 16th centuries, and Germany and the Netherlands from the 15th to 16th centuries.

Let's go up to the second floor.

The hall, called "Olympic", with casts from classical ancient Greek sculptures.

A copy of the sculpture “Lamentation of Christ” from the hall of Michelangelo Buonarotti. " Greater fame and fame,” according to his contemporary, the great master acquired himself with this work.

Italian sculpture from the 15th century. The decoration of the hall uses decorative elements in the style of the Early Renaissance.

Magnificent Tombstone of the Cardinal of Portugal by Rosselino Antonio. The original is in Florence in the church of San Miniato al Monte.

European art of the Middle Ages.

Cultural heritage of Ancient Italy and Ancient Rome in casts. The masterpieces of this room are the Capitoline She-Wolf, the bust of Marcus Aurelius, and the sculpture “Victoria”.

Greek art late classic and Hellenism. The colossal group “Farnese Bull” - the original is kept in the Archaeological Museum of Naples.

Winged Nike of Samothrace and Aphrodite of Knidos famous sculptor Praxiteles.

Of course, it’s difficult to show all the halls and works - there are a lot of them, there’s a lot to see Pushkin Museum you can spend more than one hour on fine arts.

Photography is free, but there are a few rules: you cannot use a tripod or flash, and you are prohibited from taking photographs at temporary exhibitions.

On days of particularly significant exhibitions, when masterpieces from collections are brought best museums world, queues are forming at the cash register.

Art Talks on 29 topics are held on Tuesday and Friday afternoons and Thursday evenings in the Main Building, Gallery and Personal Collections Department.

Since 1980 in the museum. Pushkin passes annual festival music “December Evenings of Svyatoslav Richter”, concerts are held in the halls throughout the year.

There are sightseeing and thematic tours of the permanent exhibition; you can take an audio guide, its cost is 250 rubles.

More detailed information see on the official website of the Pushkin Museum: arts-museum.ru

How to get to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

By public transport: metro station Kropotkinskaya, then 2 minutes on foot.

Address: Volkhonka street, building 12.

Opening hours

• Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday - from 11-00 to 20-00
• Thursday, Friday - from 11-00 to 21-00

Monday - closed

Ticket prices for the Main Building

• Adults – 400 rubles
• Preferential categories- 200 rubles
• Children under 16 years old – free

The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is preparing to celebrate its centenary. On this occasion, the exhibition is updated and something that the public has never seen before is taken out of the storerooms. “Your Leisure” walked through the halls of the museum and found out why to go to the building with columns on Volkhonka and why the permanent exhibition of the Pushkin Museum is not permanent.

Next to each other are a mummy of a cat, a mummy of a bird and a mummy of a woman’s head. We are in the very first and perhaps the most important hall of the museum. At least that's what it seems to children. It is here - to the Egyptian Hall - that they usually come running first, staring intently at the mummies and sarcophagi and completely ignoring the masterpieces of Rubens and Rembrandt displayed nearby. However, a child has not set foot here for five months now. Halls No. 1 (art of ancient Egypt) and No. 2 (art of ancient civilizations) have been closed since October for repairs and reconstruction. The doors are guarded by a formidable policeman. For greater persuasiveness, the caretaker looks sternly from a nearby chair. There is also a sign informing about the reconstruction. Triple protection before the gates to the afterlife. It’s really better not to enter here for children yet. Scientists are arguing outside the door - so hotly that the basalt figurines of the pharaohs are about to turn red. The curator and the designer discuss the correct arrangement of exhibits. IN Egyptian Hall their number has increased significantly. Numerous vessels for incense, cosmetic spoons, dishes and household items were taken out from the storerooms. “Now it will be clear how and what the Egyptians lived with,” says Alexandra Stepina, curator and deputy head of the museum’s aesthetic education department.

Walled up masterpieces

Secrets of Pushkinsk. Source: Secrets of Pushkinsk.

In the hall of ancient civilizations, an Assyrian relief was taken out of the wall, which had been walled up in it for almost half a century. In 1969, Indira Gandhi brought a unique exhibition of ancient Indian sculpture to Moscow as a gift. There were no free walls found in the museum, but it was necessary to place the exhibits, whether you like it or not. In a couple of days, plywood walls were erected, where the previous exhibits were walled up. And outside they placed a gift from the then Prime Minister of India. However, now visitors will see everything at once, and in addition, dozens of new exhibits. But first they still need to be placed correctly. Here again there is controversy. But the last word will still be behind Irina Antonova. The permanent director of the museum inspects each room herself. And makes adjustments. As she says, so it will be. However, this is not surprising. No one knows the museum better than her. After all, half of hundred years of history She is the one who runs the museum. She also initiates all changes in the seemingly unchanged permanent exhibition.

About the benefits of copies

Behind last years The museum has changed and expanded significantly. A few years ago, all the impressionists and works of the 20th century were removed from the main building of Pushkinsky. Now Manet, Monet, Degas, Chagall and Renoir “live” in a separate building on the left - the Gallery of European and American Art of the 19th-20th centuries. Personal collections live with right side from the main building - in a yellow mansion on Volkhonka, 10. A little further away is the Museion Center, where they educate the younger generation.

As a result of all these rearrangements, a lot of free space appeared on the floors of the main building. For this occasion, they decided to update the exhibition. The collection of prolific small Dutchmen and no less prolific Italians has increased significantly. The arrangement has also changed - previously quite chaotic, it has become clear and understandable. The exhibits scattered throughout the halls were brought together, uniting, for example, Rembrandt and his school in one hall and organizing the inspection strictly chronologically. We pass the right wing of the second floor, mostly filled with copies and casts of various sculptures, starting with ancient ones.

Secrets of Pushkinsk. Source: Secrets of Pushkinsk.

- It just seems that the copy is worse than the original. Over time, the copy becomes valuable, explains Alexandra Stepina. - Do you see a copy of the reliquary of St. Gertrude? So, the original is long gone. People come to us from all over the world to see it. There are other copies that only we have left, and the originals were lost in World War II.

— So, wars, tsunamis, revolutions work for the benefit of museums?

— It sounds cynical, but that’s how it is. If the originals disappear from other collections, our copies will become priceless.

How the bishop was cured

The museum curator has been leading the photographer and me through the halls for the second hour. Talking about the museum the way one should talk about it - with interest and detail. Guides can tell you a lot that is not written on the information signs.

For example, that the boring Dutchman Jan Van Der Heijden from the 11th hall is not just an artist, but also the inventor of the fire hose (which, you see, gives him charm). And the brooch from Troy on display in the 3rd hall may be valuable, but not as valuable as the lens that is pointed at it - after all, it is 4000 years old. Only from the guides can you learn that the weighty pedestal in the center of the Italian courtyard, on which New Year they put up a Christmas tree, - an old mine ventilation system. Or that unpainted pieces of walls were deliberately left so that during the next reconstruction the historical (still Tsvetaevsky) coloring could be restored. We enter one of the halls with European painting. Alexandra takes us to the picture.

I invite you to an educational walk for children and adults through the halls of Ancient Egypt. During the excursion, the children will get acquainted with Egyptian art and unravel the secrets of the mysterious ancient civilization: they will find out who invented the mummy, why the pyramids were built, what the fancy hieroglyphs mean and what function the priests performed. And at the end the participants are waiting creative task, which will allow game form consolidate the material and better remember new interesting facts!

What awaits you

Immersion in the culture of Ancient Egypt

In the halls of the museum, children will get acquainted with one of the world's best collections of objects of ancient Egyptian civilization. Will consider ancient mummy and sarcophagi, a real sphinx, a sculptural portrait of a pharaoh, Egyptian papyri and reliefs covered with hieroglyphs, as well as masterpieces of the collection - a paired sculpture of the priests Amenhotep and Rannai and a cosmetic spoon from Ivory, in which paints and incense were stored. Each item in the collection will tell children about the art of Ancient Egypt, religious cults and Everyday life Egyptians, their way of life and writing.

Mysteries of Egyptian civilization

The Egyptians left us many mysteries and symbols that you will have to unravel during the tour! You will learn how and why the Egyptians made mummies, why the pyramids were built, what is special Egyptian hieroglyphs, who are the sphinxes and why do the Egyptian gods have animal heads. And at the end of the excursion, to reinforce the material, children will receive a “papyrus” with empty windows, which will be filled with stickers with images of Egyptian masterpieces, and will answer the question why the Egyptians created these works of art.

Who is the excursion suitable for?

The excursion is designed for children 10-12 years old; the program can also be adapted for an adult audience.

Organizational details

• Depending on the composition of the group participants (children or adults), the cost of the program may vary.
• Tickets for schoolchildren in the museum are purchased separately. Tickets are free, but must be obtained from the box office
• Adults accompanying children purchase entry tickets at the museum ticket office. The cost of a full ticket is 300 rubles. To receive the benefit you must present a document.
• The day of the excursion must be agreed upon at least 7 days before the required date.

What are some gods with the heads of animals worth?! It’s quite easy to touch this ancient and mysterious culture in a modern metropolis; we have rooms with the laconic names “The Art of Ancient Egypt” and “Hellenistic and Roman Egypt, Coptic Art”, numbers 1 and 6, respectively. In order to keep your perception fresh, we recommend taking a map of the museum or asking the local attendants for directions; believe me, it’s worth it.

Here even the room itself is stylized as Ancient Egypt: “reed” columns, paintings on the ceiling, patterned floor. Among the exhibits are originals from 4 thousand BC, such antiquity will take your breath away! In the halls of the museum you can see statues, reliefs, mummies of people and animals, household items, amulets, vessels and jewelry. In addition to figurines and sarcophagi, an impressive model of a funeral boat and a cosmetic spoon in the form of a swimming girl, and of course papyri (for example, an excerpt from the “Book of the Dead”). On the more “modern” side are magnificent Coptic fabrics and masks, all of the finest workmanship and worthy of admiration. Meanwhile, imbued with exoticism, we continue our walk!

A year and a half ago, all the impressionists and works of the 20th century were removed from the Pushkin Museum. Now they live in a separate building on the left (formerly the Museum of Personal Collections, now the Gallery of European and American Art of the 19th–20th centuries). As a result, on upper floors A lot of space was freed up in the main building - they decided to update the exhibition. All the keepers had something to take out from under the covers - and, of course, everyone wanted it. Although only two collections could increase significantly - the Dutch one, due to the endless and infinitely prolific little Dutchmen (the great ones have been on display for a long time), and the Italian one, where there is something to add to each century (although names not previously presented are mostly familiar only to art historians, and Italianists at that) . As a result, both were added, but in different proportions. But first things first.

Of course, you can’t change the exposure overnight; the process is long. The halls were closed one by one, repaired and replaced, paintings were restored and taken out of storage. They carried the French upstairs and gathered Rembrandt and his school in one hall. To regular visitors of the museum this is unlikely to seem like an amazing metamorphosis - well, the walls were painted, the labels were changed, new shields were made. But if you remember how everything looked last year, it turns out that everything is the same, but not the same. On the ground floor, only the Greek and Italian courtyards remained unchanged (in the first there was a project for the reconstruction of the museum, and in the second there was a Christmas tree, but this is probably not forever). Everything else was mixed up. The left enfilade is now completely occupied by antiquities and antiquity, which have replaced Italian icons and Early Renaissance. True, the way there still lies through the Fayum portraits, and the “Treasures of Troy,” now included in the permanent exhibition, have long been in the museum under the guise of an exhibition. In the center there is now an entrance to the Italian halls, in the vestibule of which works of Byzantium are displayed. In the hall with Italian Renaissance Cranach and the early Germans are no longer shown. Then, passing the Italian courtyard and passing through the French portico, you find yourself in the northern school (the French used to be here): Cranach, brought from Italy, now has his own separate nook. Further along the enfilade follow separate Flemish and Dutch rooms with corners of Rubens and Rembrandt. Pieter de Hooch appeared in Holland, whose existence no one except the guardians had any idea about. Still on the second floor most The halls are occupied by copies and casts (they, unfortunately, were not touched). But Italians settled in the left wing - academicians, mannerists and Venetian school. A new wonderful Tiepolo, Magnasco and several Veronese (with a school) appeared. Right wing, as mentioned above, was given to the French, who enriched themselves with Le Brun and Lorrain. Overall, the exposure has increased by a third, which is nice. Now Pushkinsky gives me the feeling, like after the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, - as if the history of art consists mainly of antiquity and the mass of Italians, and everything else was just that, little things.

The most amazing thing is that all this beauty will not last long: the museum will soon be closed altogether. TO centenary anniversary(that is, by 2012) Pushkinsky must be reconstructed. The reconstruction project is being carried out by Norman Foster; according to preliminary plans, a huge underground museum quarter will appear on Volkhonka. The ending of this story is unpredictable: until the project passes all approvals, the underground museum can turn into a thirty-story one shopping mall- but we hope this will not happen with Pushkinsky. In the meantime, one unnoticeable reform has already been carried out in the museum’s halls. The fact is that in our museums the principle of inspection is compulsory - thanks to the enfilade system of halls. That is, the visitor cannot see only Rembrandt or only small Dutchmen - to get to them, willy-nilly he has to pass through many different styles, names and eras. Previously, to get into the halls of ancient Assyria, you had to go through the Italian icons, and the entrance to Italy of the 17th–18th centuries lay through the French hall. Now you can separately go to the halls of antiquity or early Italy, or Holland, or late France. Although, to be honest, the museum is so small that if you look at the entire exhibition in one sitting, even enlarged by a third, you will never get tired.