The building of the Old Mansion is located in Arkhangelsk. It was built in 1786. The fate of this house was not easy: it repeatedly burned, was rebuilt several times, corrected, reconstructed, it was never used for its intended purpose. First, the Bank office was located here, then - the Promissory Office, the Commercial Bank and, finally, the city customs.
In 1964, the building was transferred to the Museum of Fine Arts.
For several years it housed an exhibition of ancient Russian art,
later - museum funds. Since the early 1980s, the Mansion has been
restored. In September 1998, the museum was opened. The first
exposition - "Portrait in an Old Interior" - provided an opportunity
to see the transformation of artistic styles in the interior of the
late 18th - early 20th centuries. The formation of the ensemble,
which, in addition to portrait painting, includes furniture,
mirrors, porcelain, made it possible to create a special atmosphere
in which works of fine art seem to awaken when they find themselves
in an environment close to them. The house has a permanent
exhibition "Portrait in an Old Interior".
Since the Mansion
on the Embankment has never been in the possession of a particular
family, the authors of the exhibition decided not to reproduce the
original interior. But on the other hand, the funds of the museum
kept the furnishings and household items of the 18th - early 20th
centuries. Therefore, it was decided to restore the living
environment, into which the museum exhibits would organically fit.
The portrait gallery of the Old Mansion contains works that come
from local institutions and old houses. Among them you can see the
portrait of I.K. Bazhenin (a person related to Arkhangelsk) and the
royal portraits of Peter the Great, Elizabeth Petrovna, Pavel
Petrovich (II half of the 18th century). The portrait gallery
characterized the owner's taste, was the subject of his pride and
vanity.
The owner's office was one of the main rooms of the
noble house and was, in a way, its intellectual and economic center.
The main place in the cabinet exhibition is occupied by portraits of
the Arkhangelsk governors of the 18th century: T.I. Tutolmina, P.P.
Konovnitsyn and others. The interior decoration of the cabinet of
the late 18th - early 19th centuries has been recreated.
In
the living room of the Old Mansion, you can feel the atmosphere of a
town house from the first quarter of the 19th century. The living
room of the 19th century was a place where people read and
empathized aloud, did needlework, "explained", played music. Of
course, it's hard to imagine a living room without a piano. In
addition, marble sculpture and bronze items occupy the main place in
the interior decoration. The heart of the living room is her
portraits, which at the beginning of the 19th century serve as an
indicator of the living standard and position in society. Most
often, the portraits were anonymous: not only the author is unknown,
but also the people depicted on them. A group of such portraits is
located above the sofa.
In the house there is a room with a
women's boudoir (mid-19th century), where the hostess of the house
rested from secular duties, was engaged in reading, handicrafts, and
carried on obligatory correspondence, as evidenced by an elegant
bureau secretary. Here you can also see a dressing table and a table
for needlework. The picturesque paintings of this room convey a
variety of moods in tune with the world of a woman. Here are the
romantic paintings of Aivazovsky, Sudkovsky, Bogolyubov, the
sentimental idyll of a Western artist in the Rococo style, "Family
Scene" by the artist Charles van den Dele and, of course, portraits
depicting children. The pearl of a woman's boudoir is the "Portrait
of an Unknown", which was transferred to Arkhangelsk by the Russian
Museum in 1929, and it came to the museum from the artist's studio.
The final hall of the Mansion is the dining room. It was usually
a bright, comfortable room. The main place in the interior is
occupied by a sliding table "centipede", at which all family members
gathered. In the dining room, it was necessary to have glazed
cabinets-slides in which various items made of porcelain, glass and
faience were exhibited. A special place in the decoration was given
to porcelain. At the end of the 19th century, it was not just an
object of collection and representation, but a necessary part of the
table setting. On the wall you can see "Portrait of a Woman in a
White Dress" by A.I. Vakhrameev, portrait of N.D. Vidyakina, an
unknown artist.
An old mansion on the Embankment lives a
vibrant, active life. Thematic exhibitions and excursions are
regularly organized here, arousing genuine interest among locals and
tourists. In the halls of the mansion, you can hear chamber music,
balls for children, social events, receptions and presentations.