Exhibition at the Museum of Old Russian Art

About exhibition

The Museum of Old Russian Art is located in the Church of the Ascension (1648) — an outstanding monument of the Russian North which preserves six 18th-century iconostases. The museum presents Ustyuzh icon painting of the 15th–18th centuries, examples of Stroganov-style embroidered panels, and manuscript and early printed books from the libraries of Ustyuzh monasteries and churches. Highlights include the miracle-working icon "The Mother of God Odigitria of Smolensk" (c. 1558), the carved canopy of the Royal Gates (17th c.), the altar icon of Veliky Ustyug's Assumption Cathedral "The Dormition of the Mother of God" (1496), a carved white-stone devotional cross (1625), and a 15th-century liturgical shroud (epitaphios) "The Entombment of Christ." The exhibition also features hagiographic icons of Procopius of Ustyug — the contributions of N. Stroganov and A. Guselnikov to the Prokopyevsky Cathedral. Of particular interest are wooden sculptures made by Ustyuzh masters, above all a Pietà (Lamentation of Christ) from the early 19th century. In addition to the displays, visitors can explore the church's interior and visit all of its chapels.