Peter the Great the Collector. Sculptures of the Summer Garden from the Russian Museum Collection

The Mikhailovsky Castle exhibits a series of genuine decorative park sculpture of the beginning of the 18th century from the Summer Garden, purchased at the direction of Peter I in Venice and Rome. Made of Carrara marble, these works of Italian masters had been decorating the Summer Garden for almost three centuries, until in 2009 they were moved from the open air to the halls of the Mikhailovsky Castle in order to be preserved. In the alleys of the Summer Garden exact copies made of modern materials were placed instead.

The exposition demonstrates the core of the Peter's collection for the first time in many years. Among the sculptures are embodiments of various allegories: the military victories, the founding of St. Petersburg, the virtues of the monarch, along with the images of ancient gods, nymphs, characters of ancient myths and fortune tellers – sibyls, as well as marble portraits of heroes and famous historical figures.

The exposition retains the main idea of the original set of the Petrine era: the sculptures are united in series and pairs, replicating their historical arrangement in the Summer Garden, which allows presenting the thoughtful selection of works in the collection, the semantic interconnectedness of their subject matters. The exhibition includes various types of plastic images - busts, life-size round sculptures, as well as famous sculptural groups, among which is one of the most valuable works of the collection - "Cupid and Psyche" - a wonderful work by the master from the school of Lorenzo Bernini, the great Italian sculptor and architect.