The State Russian Museum

The State Russian Museum, located on Arts Square in Saint Petersburg, is the world's largest depository of Russian fine art. It is also one of the largest museums in the country. The museum was established in 1895. The main building of the museum is the Mikhailovsky Palace, a splendid Neoclassical residence of Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich. Other buildings assigned to the Russian museum include the Summer Palace of Peter I, the Marble Palace of Count Orlov, St Michael's Castle of Emperor Paul, and the Rastrelliesque Stroganov Palace on the Nevsky Prospekt. Today the collection shows Russian art beginning in the 12th century up to the socialist realism and in the USSR the inofficial art of the 20th century.