Museum exposition overview

The excursion acquaints visitors with the history and architecture of the museum, interiors, a collection of art monuments, collections of originals of ancient art and outstanding works by masters of painting. Particular attention is paid to the collection of Egyptian antiquities from the collection of world-famous Egyptologist Vladimir Semyonovich Golenishchev, the famous Fayum portraits, as well as the Troy Gold exposition, dedicated to the unique finds of the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. Part of the tour is dedicated to the art of Byzantium and medieval Western Europe of the 5th – 15th centuries. Among the genuine works of art of the Middle Ages, the most interesting are the collection of Byzantine icons and an ivory plate, depicting the scene of Christ coronation of Emperor Constantine VII Bagryanorodny.

The museum also introduces us to the art of Renaissance, whose homeland was Italy. The art of the Italian Renaissance is represented in the Museum by authentic paintings, among which are the masterpieces of Botticelli, Titian, Bronzino. The museum’s collection also contains works by German masters of the 15th century, who reflected late Gothic trends.

The pride of the museum collection is the masterpieces of the 16th century German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder. The art of the Netherlands is represented mainly by works of the 16th century, among which are the creations of the Masters from Hoogstraten, Jan Just van Kalkar, Adrian Isenbrant. Here, for the first time in the history of painting, landscape appears as an independent genre represented by the work “Winter Landscape” by Peter Brueghel the Younger. Among the portraits, the creations of Jan Gossaert, Adrian Thomas Kay stand out, and Joachim Bekelar's painting “On the Market” serves as an excellent example of genre painting.

The tour gives an idea of ​​the most significant works of world art stored in the collection of the Museum.