Museum of Old Russian Art, Veliky Ustyug

About museum

In the town of Ustyug there is a unique architectural monument of the mid-17th century — the Church of the Ascension, which is one of the most beautiful monuments of the Russian North. It now houses the Museum of Old Russian Art, which presents extensive examples of Ustyug icon painting of the 15th–17th centuries, Stroganov-style ceremonial embroidery, and manuscript and early printed books from the libraries of Ustyug monasteries and churches. The Museum exhibits such works of Ustyug art as the miracle-working icon 'Theotokos Hodegetria of Smolensk' (circa 1558) and the carved canopy of the royal gates (17th century), the icon from the Assumption Cathedral 'The Dormition of the Mother of God' (1496), a devotional carved white-stone cross (1625), the 15th-century epitaphios 'The Laying in the Tomb', 17th-century liturgical shrouds (plashchanitsy) and others. The Museum also holds master classes 'In the Icon-Painting Workshop' for children and adults, through which people can connect with the spiritual and moral roots of Russian culture and discover the significance of Veliky Ustyug as a major cultural center of the Russian North.