(h) Library of 200,000 standard works, and old prints and engravings.
[G] Open daily, 11 till 3; free on Sundays; 20 kopecks entrance on other days.
The Russian school is seen to better advantage on the south side of the Moskva river, in the Tretiakov Galleries (Lavrushenski pereulok; open daily, 10 to 4, except Mondays; admission free, catalogue in French, 20 kopeeks), a collection made by the brothers Paul and Sergius Tretiakov, and now the property of the town. Most of the pictures are modern by native artists; views of Moscow and of the historical and interesting buildings in the town are by no means numerous. Apparently Russian artists have not yet discovered that the Kremlin, as seen from across the river, is as good a subject as is the Piazza San Marco at Venice, or any other hackneyed city scene in Europe.
Most noteworthy among the paintings illustrating the history of Moscow are:—The murder of Alexis by Ivan the Terrible, by J. E. Repin (No. 782); a portrait of the same Tsar, by V. N. Vasnetsov (No. 966); The Execution of the Streltsi, by B. J. Surikov (No. 737); St Nikita, the impostor, before the Tsarina Sophia, by B. G. Peroff (No. 733), and the same Tsarina in the Novo devichi Convent during the execution of the Streltsi, by J. E Repin (No. 761). Some of the ancient customs and costumes of Moscow are represented in No. 808, A Boyard Wedding, by C. B. Lebedev, and No. 1367, The Handsel of Innocence, by Polenov—an excellent specimen of this painter’s best work, who does not show to advantage in his views of the Terem (Nos. 1356-1366) and church interiors (Nos. 1349-1355). Instructive also are the sketches Nos. 304-307, made by V. G. Schwartz to illustrate Count A. Tolstoi’s novel “Prince Serebrenni,” and 308-312, those made to Lermontov’s “Bread Seller.”
Notable pictures taken from scenes in Russian history are:—The Battle of Igor Sviatoslaf’s son against the Polovsti (No. 950), by V. M. Vasnetsov; The “Black Council,” held during the rebellion of monks at the Solovetski Monastery in 1666, by S. D. Miloradovich (No. 742); Peter the Great questioning his son Alexis, by N. N. Gay (No. 636); The Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861, by G. G. Myassoiedov (No. 495), and No. 252, by C. D. Flavitski, the imprisonment of Princess Tarakanov in the fortress of Sts. Peter and Paul, during a rise of the Neva—a sensational incident the truth of which was questioned and disproved, when this picture was exhibited at Paris in 1867. The incident represented in No. 394 by N. B. Nevref, the enforced taking of the veil by the Princess Usupov, was of such common occurrence in mediæval Russia, that no question as to its possibility need be raised. Some of the best of the war pictures of Vereshchagin are in this collection, and other painters have contributed works illustrating the French invasion, and more recent events, in a style quite as original and striking as that of the Russian artist best known in western Europe. In all the subject appears to be far more suggestive and interesting than the craftsmanship. This is often weak, or worse, an unsatisfactory imitation of the most impressive methods of the modern French school.
Religious pictures are numerous and good: N N. Gay is represented in forty-six works which include “The Morning of the Resurrection” (641), “The Remorse of Judas” (642), “The Judgment” (643), “Golgotha” (645), “What is Truth?” (640), and “Christ in Gethsemane” (634). Several of his studies of “Christ on the Cross” may be compared with the work of T. A. Bronnikov, “Campus Scleratus” (461). The conventional style of “Ikon” painting is evident in Nos. 727-730 by M. B. Nesterov, more particularly in the pictures illustrating the life of St Sergius. No. 739, by B. J. Surikov, represents the Boyarina Morosov being removed from among the dissenting sect she did so much to establish.
The lighter, merrier, and more general life of the Russian people is shown in a far greater number of pictures. Pryanichnikov has humour as well as style (416-432), in 542, Maximov shows the arrival of the “wizard” at a village wedding; 682 is an every day village scene representing the homage paid to the ikon on its visits; Yarochenko (701) shows the transport van with its exiles committed for life and the free birds of the air mocking them. Repin depicts truthfully the happy life of the peasants; 766, a dance, 781, “The Unexpected Return,” 797, St Cene. In the same vein are also 857, Lebedev “Farings”; 863, Korovin, The Common Council; 775, 776, Answer of the Zaporogians to Mahomet’s ultimatum; 1221-1224, the Second-hand market at Moscow, and 1256, An Evening’s Amusement, are by V. G. Makovski; The Emigrants, No. 1520, by S. B. Ivanof, is depressing, but in 930 Madam A. L. Rievski shows in “A Moment of Gaiety” the true character of the peasant.
In the streets Znamenka and Vozdvigenka are some characteristic Russian mansions of the eighteenth century, for it was then that this quarter, which had formerly been inhabited by palace servants and craftsmen, began to take a more aristocratic character. That of Prince Sheremetiev is the most bizarre; there also is the old
