The Russian Museum

The History of the Russian Museum.

On 13 (25) April 1895 there was issued a Supreme Decree of the Emperor Nicholas II «On the establishment of a special institution under the name of "The Russian Museum of the Emperor Alexander III "and submitting for this purpose the Mikhailovsky Palace acquired by the treasury with all the wings belonging to it, services and the garden". The statute of the museum was approved by the decree of Nicholas II on 14 (26) February 1897. In the statute there were presented the following conditions, emphasizing the special status of the museum.

"The works of the artists who are alive, shall be placed for 5 years in the Museum of the Imperial Academy of Arts, and only after this period they may be finally transferred to the Russian Museum of the Emperor Alexander III with consent of the owner."
“The objects, which are placed in the museum and are considered its property, cannot be ever alienated or transferred to another institution."
"The supervisor of the museum must be assigned by the highest nominal decree, and is certainly to be a member of the Imperial House."

The official opening of the museum was on 19 March 1898.