October, 29, 2011 - February, 26, 2012

Saint-Petersburg, the State Hermitage Museum

The exhibition is dedicated to the history of the Menshikov palace and covers several stages of its construction, periods of its complex scientific restoration and organization of the permanent museum expositions in its halls. Having been founded in 1710 as a residence of Saint Petersburg Governor General Alexander Menshikov, the palace was occupied by the Cadet Corps (military academy) in 1731 and later on became the museum of the Corps at the end of the XIXth century. After the restoration, carried out in the second half of XXth century, it was opened to the public as a branch of the State Hermitage Museum.

The exhibition presents remarkable artworks related to the history of the Menshikov palace and its epoch - paintings, drawings, prints, objects of decorative and applied arts, weapons and banners, books, documents and photographs, numismatic objects and archaeological finds. Besides the Moscow Kremlin Museums the project is supported by the State Russian Museum, Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps, State Museum of St Petersburg’s History and State Memorial Museum of Alexander Suvorov. Many of the articles are being exhibited for the first time.

The Moscow Kremlin Museums provided five unique items for the display, i.e. swords executed by the Olonets craftsmen and the dirk, which had belonged to Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov, a highly appreciated associate and friend of Tsar Peter the Great, a distinguished Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimus, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora (Duke of Ingria), Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Cosel.