Museums-Cathedrals Department: 100 years of History, Devotion, Memory

Fyodor Yakovlevich Mishukov
Digital copy of the photograph of the 1910-1920s
F.Ya. Mishukov (27.09.1881-27.09.1966) – researcher, artist, of art products made of metal, teacher, worked as a researcher of the department from August 1924 till March 1929, served as the curator of the Armoury Chamber from 1919 to 1921
Photograph 'Church of the Deposition of the Virgin’s Robe'
Façade of altar apsides before the stairs leading to the Chapel of Our Lady of Pechory were dismantled, and before the restoration of altar windows
December 1919 (?)
Lev Felixovich Vishnevsky
Digital copy of the photograph of the 1910s
Collection of A.L. Vishnevsky, Moscow L.F. Vishnevsky (22.05.1867-23.06.1941) – specialist-expert in artistic metal, museum worker, collector, researcher of the department from 1924 to 1929
Negative 'Annunciation Monastery. Church of Michael Maleinos. Exposition of Ancient Sculpture'
1920s
Vladimir Nikolaevich Ivanov

Digital copy of the photograph of the 1910s
V.N. Ivanov (19.11.1905-18.02.1991) – historian, worked at the department from 1928-1935. He went from being a trainee to the head of division
Photograph 'View of the Church of St Catherine in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin'
Russia, Moscow, late 19th – early 20th c.
Photographic paper, cardboard; photography, photo printing
Sophia Alexandrovna Zombe
Digital copy of the photograph of the 1934
Graduated from the MSU of M.V. Lomonosov, Ethnological Faculty, Fine Arts Division in 1929. Worked as a researcher of the department from 6 September 1929 till 9 January 1935.
Photograph 'Carring-out the Tomb of Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin'
10 September 1929
Technique: gelatin silver print

28 October 2022 – 08 January 2023

Patriarch’s Palace

Organised by: The Moscow Kremlin Museums

Participants:
The Moscow Kremlin Museums,
collections of A.L. Batalov, Moscow, and A.L. Vishnevsky, Moscow

This exhibition commemorating the 100th Anniversary is dedicated to the activities of the Museums-cathedrals department of the Moscow Kremlin Museums from the moment it was established in 1922 to date.

The show includes archival documents, photographs and negatives from the Moscow Kremlin Museums and private collections that represent the opening stage in the history of the department from 1922 to the early 1930s, when the main emphasis was put on conserving and restoring the cathedrals and monasteries in the Kremlin, organizing expositions and exhibitions in them and enlarging their collections. This display recalls the staff that pioneered the creation of the Museums-cathedrals department and worked during those difficult years, notably N.N. Pomerantsev – the founder of the department and its first chief, architects I.V. Rylsky and D.P. Sukhov, curator of the museums-cathedrals F.Ya. Mishukov, curator of palace complexes L.F. Vishnevsky, scientific workers V.N. Ivanov and S.A. Zombe. Thanks to their creative energy, enthusiasm and devotion to their profession, precious works of art, historical and cultural landmarks were conserved and, in some cases, saved from destruction. A separate page in the history of the department is linked to the selfless efforts of N.N. Pomerantsev and D.P. Sukhov to protect the Kremlin architectural monuments from demolition. At the beginning of the 1930s, the state policy towards museums had changed. By 1936, all the leading employees of the department were fired and it ceased to exist for a time.

The multimedia section of the exhibition traces the period from 1950, when the museum department was reborn, up to 2022. It presents photographic materials illustrating the most significant works on each cathedral. Apart from the trends that were determined in the initial period of the department's history, the research aimed at studying monuments of Old Russian art and publishing their results in academic catalogues has gained considerable momentum. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a new generation of researchers came to the department, laying down a fundamental approach to studying the Moscow Kremlin artefacts.

Throughout its 100-year history, the subordination of the Moscow Kremlin Museum, its structure, tumultuous years, periods of hardship and wars have repeatedly changed. What has remained constant is the sincere devotion of the employees of the Museums-cathedrals department, their desire to preserve under any circumstances priceless works of art that have been gathered under the vaults of the Kremlin’s temples for centuries.

The exhibition is held in the Patriarch’s Palace from 10:00 to 17:00 daily except Thursday. This exhibition is included in the price of admission to the architectural ensemble of Cathedral Square.

        700 rubles - full price ticket
        500 rubles - discount ticket for all under-16s
        Free of charge for under 7-year-olds
        Free of charge for the ICOM members

Tickets can be purchased:

online (only full price tickets)
at the ticket office in the Alexander Garden on the day of the visit.
Ticket office operating hours - from 9:30 to 16:30.