Prince Dolgorukov ‑ Master of Moscow
To celebrate Moscow’s 863rd anniversary, the State Historical Museum has put together an exhibition dedicated to Prince Vladimir Andreyevich Dolgorukov, the governor general of Moscow from 1865 to 1891.
Prince Dolgorukov’s career started in the Army, where he saw military action in the Caucuses and in Poland. But it is in the social and political spheres that he excelled. The second half of the nineteenth century was a time of progress in Moscow. Gas lighting was installed; railways were constructed which connected Moscow to Central Russia towns; academies and the Moscow Conservatory were built—and Prince Dolgorukov was appointed governor-general.
In those decades Moscow hosted the Ethnographic Exhibition, the Polytechnical Exhibition, the All-Russia Industrial and Art Exhibition, and horse-breeding exhibitions. All these exhibitions brought in funds that were put towards constructing what would become the present Historical Museum. Dolgorukov is also accredited with the construction of Christ the Saviour Cathedral, which would become one of Moscow’s best-known symbols and later, in the 1990s, when the cathedral was rebuilt, a symbol of Russia’s post-Soviet revival.
A major section of the exhibition is dedicated to all the presents that Prince Dolgorukov received. They include rarities like architects Vladimir Sherwood’s and Fyodor Schechtel’s sketches, a unique 16th century bible presented to the governor-general by the Moscow
|
State Historical Museum
September 1 – October 31
Open: 10:00 – 18:00, every day except Tuesday
www.shm.ru
|
Jewish community, statuettes by Eugene Lanceret.
The Bolshoi Theatre museum and the State Bakhrushin Theatre museum have provided other exhibits from their collections to illustrate Prince Dolgorukov’s other passion for the theatre. “Moscow school” painters; V. Perov, A. Savrasov, I. Levitan are on display, too.
|
