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2003: The inauguration of the Museum of the Guards in
the General Staff building
The 9 December 2003, the Orthodox feast of St George the
Bringer of Victory, saw the formal inauguration of
Russia's first museum of the Guards. The decision to create
such a museum under the auspices of the State Hermitage was
taken in the year 2000, when there was held an exhibition
devoted to the 300th anniversary of the Russian
Imperial Guards. That exhibition was organized by the
Hermitage in collaboration with the museums
of St Petersburg and its suburbs.
The display of the Museum of the Guards is housed in
the General Staff building. Some 200 items - elements
of uniforms and equipment, banners and regimental
regalia, paintings, works of graphic and applied art, numismatic
items and documents - present the brilliant
and dramatic history of the Russian Imperial
Guards, beginning with the reign of Alexander I and ending
with the departure of the Guards regiments for the First
World War in 1914 under Nicholas II.
The display includes portraits of Russian emperors painted in Guards
uniforms by famous artists - Alexander I, Nicholas I, Alexander
II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, and also portraits of commanders
and officers of Guards regiments. A place of honour
is accorded to Peter Hess's Battle of Tarutino, produced specially for
the Winter Palace as one of a large series of battle
paintings. A considerable part of the display is made
up of elements of uniforms and equipment, including
the special uniforms of colonels-in-chief belonging
to emperors and grand dukes.
Works of graphic art present various sides of Guards life,
connected primarily with the Russian capital, its daily life
and culture: parades, changing of the guard, the troops passing
along the city's streets and simply figures of soldiers
in Guards uniforms of various types of troops.
On display in all the sections are banners and standards
of the Guards regiments from various dates.
Of quite unique importance for the Museum of the Guards is the room
that houses gifts - valuable relics returned to Russia
after long periods abroad: two banners of the Life Guards
Preobrazhensky Regiment from the 18th century, the personal
standard of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich the Elder
and the standard of His Majesty's Life Guards Uhlan Regiment.
From London there came back to St Petersburg the St George
banner of the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment that had been handed over
to Russia during President Putin's state visit to the United Kingdom.
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Hall 3. The Guards in the reign
of Nicholas I (1825–1855)
Larger view
Hall 4. The Guards in the reigns
of Nicholas I (1825–1855) and Alexander
II (1855–1881)
Larger view
Hall 5. The Guards in the reigns
of Alexander III (1881–1896) and Nicholas
II (1896–1917)
Larger view
Palace Square and the General Staff building
Larger view
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