The Russian Museum contains the world's greatest collections of the works of Russian art. It was founded in 1895 and opened for visitors in 1898. Until the 1917 revolution, it was officially called "the Alexander III Emperor's Museum of Russian Art".

The museum is in Mikhailovsky Palace designed by Carlo Rossi and constructed in 1819-1825 for Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich. The sculptors Vasily Demut-Malinovsky and Stepan Pimenov, the painters Giovanni Battista and Pietro Scotti, Antonio Vighi and Bernardo Medici. The original decoration of the Official Staircase and the White Column Room have been preserved to present time, while the decorations of other rooms were lost when the palace was transformed into the museum. To house the quickly growing collections, the western wing of the building was constructed in 1914-1919. It was named "the Benois wing" after the architect Leonty Benois who designed it.

The basis of the collections of the Russian Museum became the Hermitage collections of the works of Russian art, as well as the collections of the Academy of Arts and the collections of Czars' residences located in the environs of the city. The new exhibits were purchased by the museum or donated to it. After the revolution, the collections considerably increased due to nationalization of private collections.

At present, there are more than 320 thousand exhibits in the Russian Museum representing Russian art of various epochs, from the 11 th century to present time. These include the collections of Russian and Soviet painting, the Russia's richest collections of sculptures and graphics, the works of applied art and folk art.

At present, the Russian Museum is a major center of research, methodology, exhibit restoration, culture and education. Its exhibits show the development of Russian art from Middle Ages to present time. In the museum rooms, you can see the works of such famous painters as Andrei Rublev, Karl Bryullov, Arkhip Kuindji, Vasily Surikov, Kazimir Malevich, Lev Bakst, Mikhail Vrubel, Mark Chagal, Vasily Kandinsky and many others.