How the Historical Museum prepared to open its doors to visitors

Between the decision of Alexander II to create a museum of Russian history and the opening of the halls of the Historical Museum for public visits, almost an era passed: it included the funeral of one sovereign, the coronation of another, disputes about the design of the building and the contents of the exposition, lack of money and the suspension of construction amid the war. Kommersant recalls how the Historical Museum turned from a project of several enthusiasts into one of the main national collections in a few years and is located in a specially constructed building that has become a “visiting card” of the center of Moscow.

On June 2, 1883, the opening of the Historical Museum to the public took place. This was preceded by a journey of less than 12 years: back in 1871, the heir-tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich received a letter from an initiative group of people who had an idea about the need to open a museum of national historical values.

In January 1872, the heir, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, wrote on a memorandum about the museum project: “The sovereign resolved this matter.” But the founding date of the museum is considered to be February 9, 1872: on this day, the highest permission of Emperor Alexander II followed to create in Moscow “a special museum that would become not only a repository of objects collected for the exhibition, but would constantly direct its activities towards the development and collection of materials relating to other events of more distant eras ”(from an appeal to the heir-tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich on behalf of Colonel Nikolai Chepelevsky.

The Minister of State Property, General Oleksandr Zelenoy, was appointed chairman of the established museum department. Count Alexei Uvarov and Colonel Nikolai Chepelevsky became comrades of the chairman. The scientific commission of the museum was headed by Count Uvarov, it also included Nikolai Chepelevsky and historians Ivan Zabelin, Dmitry Ilovaisky and Vasily Rumyantsev. They were required to decide on the goals and objectives, start forming collections and start creating an exposition.

For a long time, the organizers of the museum could not come to a consensus regarding the subject of the show. Nikolai Chepelevsky saw the museum as a “temple of glory” celebrating military exploits and the military history of the Russian Empire; Alexey Uvarov and Ivan Zabelin believed that the museum should have a broader theme and have educational value. Ivan Zabelin was convinced that history should be presented to visitors not as a majestic enumeration of kings and their deeds, but to demonstrate the participation of the people in the formation and affairs of the state. The object of his interest was folk life, with all its details and material diversity.

Based on the project of Alexei Uvarov, in 1873 the Charter of the Museum named after His Imperial Highness the heir-tsarevich was drawn up. According to this charter, the dissemination of information on national history and serving as a visual history of the main eras of the Russian state was declared the goal of the museum. The document was divided into four parts: “The Purpose and Composition of the Museum”, “Means of the Museum”, “Rights of the Museum”, “Management of the Museum”. It was decided to present in the exposition the time period from prehistoric times to the era of the reign of Alexander II. It was planned to open a library, a reading room and an auditorium for “learned lectures”. In addition to staff members, the museum had a circle of honorary members who had special merits to the institution, founding members, full members, competing members and corresponding members, by analogy with the Academy of Sciences.

At the end of 1873, on the territory of Red Square near the Senate and Nikolskaya towers, a place was allocated for construction. The discussion of the architectural appearance of the building revealed a difference of opinion between Count Uvarov and Ivan Zabelin. Alexei Uvarov had an idea to take the Suzdal churches and chambers of Andrei Bogolyubsky as an architectural model, and Ivan Zabelin was a supporter of imitating the architecture of the 16th century. As a result, the members of the commission decided during the construction to focus on the architectural image of the Intercession Cathedral (built in 1555–1561), which closes Red Square from its opposite side. The very first sketches of the museum’s facades were made by the painter, architect and sculptor Vladimir Sherwood, who was recommended by Alexei Uvarov and Ivan Zabelin.

On the site chosen for construction, which belonged to the Moscow City Duma (its main building, which after the revolution will house the Lenin Museum, and later the Museum of the Patriotic War of 1812, which is part of the Historical Museum complex, was not yet built), there was an old building of the Main Pharmacy . On April 16, 1874, the Duma expressed its readiness to donate the acquired site for the construction of the museum: “The repository of monuments of people’s life being established will itself become an All-Russian monument that will testify to the love of the Russian people for their fatherland, about its respect for the historical shrine and for the exploits of their ancestors,” says in a council resolution.

After the final design of the site, the design of the building began. Vladimir Sherwood was joined by engineer Anatoly Semyonov. In June 1874, the demolition of the pharmacy building began. The ceremonial laying of the new building was scheduled for August 15, 1874, but the project could not be completed by the appointed date.

From mid-November 1874 to May 1, 1875, a competition for projects for the building of the Historical Museum was held. Many prominent architects took part in it, in particular Alexander Kaminsky, Lev Dal, Nikolai Shokhin. Sherwood and Semenov also submitted an application – they presented the project “Fatherland” to the jury, in which this time there were drawings with a detailed description of engineering and architectural solutions, calculations of structures and communications. The project was recommended for approval, but the historians who initiated the creation of the museum all the time had new wishes regarding the shape of the building, as a result of which, according to Vladimir Sherwood himself, “the facades were redrawn four times.”

Particular attention was paid to the front facade overlooking Red Square. St. Petersburg art historian Vladimir Lisovsky praised Vladimir Sherwood for “an interesting urban planning technique, the essence of which is that the museum building “balanced” the ancient temple, without at all belittling its compositional role.”

Finally, on August 20, 1875, the laying of the Historical Museum took place in the presence of Emperor Alexander II, who personally laid a brick in the foundation of the building.

In February 1876, the management of the museum entered into a “Condition with engineer Alexander Alexandrovich Semenov and academician Vladimir Osipovich Sherwood that they are invited to take on the duties of builders for the construction of the museum for a period up to September 1, 1879.” Only the commercial and office premises of the basement were to receive minimal interior decoration: there was not enough money for other finishing work.

In 1879, cooperation between Vladimir Sherwood and the Historical Museum became impossible. The management considered that in interior projects he gave exhibits secondary importance, highlighting the design of exposition rooms with works of modern academic art. This approach provoked a protest from Alexei Uvarov, and the design was completely transferred to the hands of Anatoly Semenov. The building itself was completed according to the project of Vladimir Sherwood.

Financial problems during construction appeared quite quickly, despite the fact that the private initiative was remarkably accepted by the sovereign. The construction was carried out at the expense of patrons and the initiators’ own income, but this was not enough to implement grandiose ideas. The funds of the museum, according to the charter, included the main capital – 154 thousand rubles, donated to commerce by advisers I. Kononov and I. Zaichenko, one-time and permanent donations, fees from public readings and lectures, income from the sale of museum publications, as well as fees for the entrance. “Because of the insufficiency of funds collected by donations from private individuals for the construction of the museum building” on September 1, 1874, they had to resort to pledging a plot in the Moscow City Credit Society. Repay a loan of 1 million 260 thousand rubles. succeeded only after 28 years. Since 1876, the state began to allocate 200 thousand rubles to the future museum. per year, but most of the money was spent on repaying interest on the loan. Against the background of increased budget spending, including for the war with Turkey in 1877-1878, construction work in 1879 was completely suspended.

It was possible to resume construction only in 1881, when Moscow began preparations for the coronation of Alexander III. On May 29, 1881, the museum building was taken over by the treasury, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, and a little later, in 1882, the museum was transferred to the Ministry of Public Education. The institution on Red Square received its first official name: the Imperial Russian Historical Museum.

On May 27, 1883, during the coronation celebrations, the museum was visited by Emperor Alexander III and his wife Maria Feodorovna, the first distinguished guests. On the vault of the Museum’s Front Hall, they saw the composition “Family Tree of Russian Tsars”, the top of which was decorated with their portraits. The king was quite pleased with the first halls and expressed a desire to continue the organization of the museum. The museum was opened to the general public six days later.

Sofia Meshkova