The Stieglitz Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts ranks among the most significant

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The project had its beginnings in 1878 when Baron

Alexander von Stieglitz Baron Alexander von Stieglitz (; 1814–1884) was a Russian Jewish financier. He was the first governor of the State Bank of the Russian Empire, the predecessor organization to today's Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Early life and educ ...

(1814–84), a millionaire philanthropist, donated funds to build a museum for the benefit of students of the Central School of Engineering Design, which had been established by him earlier. The new museum was to accommodate Stieglitz's private collection of rare glassware,

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

s, tapestries, furniture, and tiled stoves. The museum's first director,

Maximilian Messmacher Maximilian (von) Messmacher (, ''Maximilian Yegorovich Messmacher''; 1842–1906) was a Russian architect of German ancestry. He attended the School of Painting of St. Petersburg Society for the Encouragement of Arts and thereafter the Imperial ...

, based his design upon a similar museum in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Constructed between 1885 and 1896, the building is an example of the

Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

at its most stylistically forceful. The ground floor with arched windows is heavily rusticated and the upper storey is turgid with ornate details and statuary. The central hall is set between two-storey Italianate arcades, while interiors of other halls are styled so as to conform with items exhibited therein. A room patterned after the

Terem Palace Terem Palace or Teremnoy Palace () is a historical building in the Moscow Kremlin, Russia, which used to be the main residence of the Russian czars in the 17th century. Its name is derived from the Greek word ''τέρεμνον'' (i.e., "dwelling ...

particularly stands out as "an opulent knockout", in the words of Tom Masters of the ''

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History 20th century Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen Wheeler, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 19 ...

''. Out of some 30,000 items stored in the museum at the time of the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the Communist authorities handed over the most precious exhibits to the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

. The Stieglitz Museum continued as a branch of the Hermitage until 1926, when it was abolished, only to be restored three years later as a separate institution. During the Soviet years luxurious interiors fell into disrepair, with one hall used as a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

, its walls painted over. It was not until the fall of the Soviet Union that slow and painstaking restoration began.

Sources

* Музей барона Штиглица: Прошлое и настоящее. СПб., 1994. File:Большой выставочный зал академии им. А. Л. Штиглица.jpg File:Halls of Saint Petersburg Art and Industry Academy (16991766200).jpg File:Академия им. А.Л. Штиглица-8.jpg File:Tsentralny District, St Petersburg, Russia - panoramio (202).jpg File:A faunistic dish from the museum of The Academy of Art and Industry (17171730076).jpg

External links

* {{authority control Decorative arts museums in Russia Renaissance Revival architecture in Russia Art museums and galleries established in 1878 Buildings and structures completed in 1896 1878 establishments in the Russian Empire Art museums and galleries in Saint Petersburg Design museums