The Radishchev Museum in Saratov is older than the Tretyakov Gallery and the Pushkin Museum. It is the first provincial Russian museum and is regarded as one of the best European museums.
The Saratov Radishchev Museum has a unique collection of Russian and foreign art numbering over 35,000 items. The core of the collection is the private collection of its founder Alexey Bogolyubov, together with works transferred by Alexander III from the Hermitage reserves and pieces from the private collections of M.F. Glazunov, E.P. Razumova and O.A. Gordeeva.
1. "The Triumph of Bacchus", Giorgio Vasari.
Paintings by Giorgio Vasari are very rarely found in Russian museums. Vasari was an architect and painter, a contemporary of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and the author of the famous biographies of Renaissance masters covering Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Notably, the period names we commonly use were first introduced by Vasari.
Vasari painted "The Triumph of Bacchus" at the end of the 16th century on commission from the Medici family, at whose court he worked. Preparatory drawings for the painting are kept in the Louvre in Paris and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
The canvas is painted in the Mannerist style, which developed out of the Late Renaissance. It is characterized by a certain artifice and staged quality of compositions, with unnatural and deliberately theatrical poses of the figures. A master of complex multi-figure compositions, Vasari preferred biblical and classical subjects. Traditionally, painters depicted bacchanalian feasts against a natural backdrop; Vasari departs from this by filling almost the entire pictorial space with figures.
The celebration depicted by the painter is a festival in honor of Bacchus, the god of wine. He is young but already wearied by revelry. Vasari places him, embracing a small Satyr, at the center of the painting, thereby dividing the composition into two parts. To his left are his perennial companions—young Bacchic maidens; on the right is Bacchus's tutor, the god Silenus with an ass, and an old Bacchic woman. Vasari uses the bacchants to show that while youthful indulgence in drink may be acceptable, in old age it becomes unbecoming.
The painting has been excellently preserved and was hardly restored since its creation. The wooden frame with gilded carving that surrounds the painting was made to the artist's design.
For a long time the canvas was kept by the Florentine banking family Gerini. It was brought to Russia in 1850. The Hermitage acquired Vasari's painting from the artist Auguste Rible, and in 1885 it was transferred to the collection of the Radishchev Museum.
2. "Pierrefonds Castle", Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.
Works by the famous 19th-century French painter Corot are seldom seen in Russian museums. Radishchev was friends with Corot and often invited him to his Paris studio. As a token of friendship the artists exchanged studies, which is how "Pierrefonds Castle" entered the Russian artist's collection. Today this painting can be seen in the Radishchev Museum's holdings.
The Russian artist Bogolyubov wrote of Corot's painting: "Looking at his trees you may not be able to say what plants they are, but study the general mass of his greenery, compare it with the air around it — and you will say – yes, this is a master!" Corot himself said: "To enter my painting one must patiently wait for the mist to clear."
Jean-Baptiste Corot's canvases are classic examples of the Barbizon school. The Barbizon painters preferred rural life and landscapes, working en plein air, a practice later adopted by the Impressionists. Unlike the Impressionists, the Barbizon palette is restrained—calm and nearly monochrome. Corot did not align himself with any single school but developed a personal manner of painting; he is often called a poetic painter, and his works are referred to as "moods in landscape."
The painting "Pierrefonds Castle" depicts the Parisian castle built at the end of the 14th century and ruined in the 17th century. The artist painted it at the height of the restoration works begun by Napoleon in 1857.
The painter depicted early morning, when the sun has not yet risen but the lightened sky already foretells dawn. The silhouette of the castle is just beginning to emerge from the darkness. Branching trees and bushes become discernible, and the outline of the building can be made out. In the foreground stand two guards in medieval costume; their silhouettes add a sense of mystery to the landscape.
3. "Ship Near the Shore", Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky.
Aivazovsky lived for many years in Feodosia, where he most likely painted "Ship Near the Shore." The artist had a special technique that allowed him to render the sea so realistically. He observed the movement of waves and the play of light on the water for many hours, making sketches that he later used in his studio to create his canvases. Aided by an excellent visual memory, great skill and experience, he said: "The movements of living elements are elusive to the brush: to paint lightning, a gust of wind, a splash of a wave — is impossible entirely from life. (...) The subject of a painting is formed in my memory like a poem is in a poet's mind."
"Ship Near the Shore" is a classic Aivazovsky work. He loved to paint a stirring sea. The ship heels over but holds steady; its sails are full of wind, and rays of the setting sun break through the clouds. The light warm tones of the painting create an affirmative feeling, a joy of triumph in man's struggle against powerful elemental forces.
Remarkably, Aivazovsky often painted canvases in a single day while the paint was still wet. The longest time he ever took to complete a painting was just ten days. Given such speed, it is not surprising that Aivazovsky left behind a vast artistic legacy — over 6,000 paintings.
4. "Portrait of Nadya Repina", Ilya Yefimovich Repin.
Every museum has a painting that becomes its calling card. For the Radishchev Museum this is the portrait of Nadya Repina, or the "Girl in Pink." Nadya was the daughter of the artist Ilya Repin and the goddaughter of the equally well-known Russian artist Alexey Bogolyubov, to whom Repin gifted the portrait of six-year-old Nadya in 1882; it became one of Alexey Petrovich's favorite works.
Igor Grabar recounted the creation of this portrait: "The girl once fell asleep in an armchair, her head leaning to one side, and he was so captivated by the unexpectedly beautiful sight that he immediately began to paint her. Afterwards she had to pose considerably, and in a difficult pose, since the work was painted extraordinarily attentively and lovingly."
"He charmingly conveys the real likeness of the daughter and the enchantment of carefree childhood. The portrait of Nadya Repina, full of sincere admiration and spontaneity, seems created in one sitting, but behind the virtuosity of the brush and light theatricality lies long and painstaking work on the image."
The girl in the painting has just woken; her gaze is distant and her body still. The painter superbly conveys the accidental moment of a child awakening, relaxed from sleep and still under the sway of childhood dreams. The painting is executed with broad strokes in an impressionistic manner; the fragmentary composition emphasizes the feeling of a fleeting moment snatched from life.
5. "Madonna and Child with Angels", Pietro Perugino.
Some art historians attribute the painting to Pietro Perugino, while others believe the author is unknown. The painting resembles Perugino's manner and was likely produced in his workshop.
The figure of the Madonna stands against a terrestrial landscape. Together with the angels she gently inclines her head toward the Child. On the faces turned to him there is a serene contemplation of the miracle. In his hand the Child holds a small goldfinch — a symbol of the future Passion. According to legend, the red spot on the bird's breast appeared from the blood of the Crucified Savior.
To the right and left of the Madonna and Child are two angels; in the distant right one can also make out a tiny kneeling figure of Saint Jerome, the hermit who contemplates the miraculous appearance of the Virgin and Child. The large difference in the sizes of the figures visually emphasizes the incomparability of the Divine event with human scale. Jerome was among the first to translate the Old Testament into Latin and is venerated in both Catholic and Orthodox traditions.
The painting "Madonna and Child with Angels" was donated to the museum in 1887 by a high-ranking official, collector, and patron — Alexander Viktorovich Zvenigorodsky.
6. "Autumn Motif", Viktor Elpidiforovich Borisov-Musatov.
The artist often nostalgically evoked aristocratic culture in his work. The changes in lifestyle at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the emptying of country estates and parks had a profound influence on the artist, and he created a whole series of paintings with invented genre scenes set against old interiors and lyrical landscapes. In the painting "Autumn Motif," which began this cycle, there is a sense of gentle sadness for an era that has irretrievably passed.
Borisov-Musatov depicted an awkward conversation between a young man and a girl in a sunlit autumn garden. The artist painted the young woman in a white dress — an image that frequently recurs in his works. The prototype of the famous "Borisov-Musatov lady" was Elena, the artist's younger sister. Art historians note that the figures in the painting are from different eras: the young man's costume and wig correspond to 18th-century fashion, while the woman's appearance matches the mid-19th century. For the artist historical accuracy is not important; this may even be an intentional play of images. What matters is conveying the feelings and experiences of the characters depicted. The scene is a kind of longing for bygone eras, more like a lyrical reverie than reality.
The young man, in a white wig and satin costume with immaculate stockings, sits on a bench; his posture betrays fatigue and distress. His hands clasped together express inner tension. The young lady, having slightly turned away from her interlocutor, looks away bashfully. She appears calm, but her hands nervously toy with the lush pale-pink rose on her lap. From her pose it is clear that the conversation, whether already past or yet to come, was not easy for her, but she remains firm in her decision.
7. "The Last Supper", Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge.
The Last Supper is a biblical subject and one of the most important events in the New Testament narrative, during which the sacrament of the Eucharist was first established and it was foretold that one of the disciples would betray Jesus.
Ge depicted Christ's final meal with the apostles not as a banquet at a large table, familiar from the canonical interpretations by other artists, but as a living drama. Judas's betrayal of his Teacher is portrayed as an ideological rupture. This unconventional treatment of the biblical subject provoked heated debate in society and among critics.
The painting "The Last Supper" was purchased from the artist in 1864 by Nicholas Alexandrovich, the elder brother of the future Emperor Alexander III, and for a long time was part of the Anichkov Palace painting collection.
The museum's website features a complete electronic catalog of paintings, graphics, sculpture, and decorative-applied art from the Radishchev Museum's collection.
