Gallery 1812. Military gallery of the Hermitage

Military Gallery of the Winter Palace, G. G. Chernetsov, 1827

military gallery - one of the galleries of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The gallery consists of 332 portraits of Russian generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812. Portraits painted by George Doe and his assistants A. V. Polyakov And Golike (German: Wilhelm August Golike).

Posthumous portrait of George Doe (seated) painted by his student Wilhelm Golicke (standing) surrounded by the Golicke family

George Doe (Eng. George Dawe; February 8, 1781, London - October 15, 1829, Kentish Town) - English artist. In 1819-1829 he worked in St. Petersburg, where he painted (with the help of Russian painters Wilhelm August Golike and Alexander Polyakov) 329 bust portraits of generals - participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, large portraits of Mikhail Kutuzov and Mikhail Barclay de Tolly (1829), 4 portraits of veteran soldiers (1828), who made up the Military Gallery in the Winter Palace.

George Doe enjoyed the patronage of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. In 1819, he went on a trip to Europe with the Duke of Kent, during which he attracted the attention of Alexander I. The emperor commissioned the artist to paint portraits of Russian generals who participated in the war with Napoleon I. In 1826, Nicholas I invited Dow to his coronation, and in 1828 George was officially appointed as the First Artist of the Imperial Court.

Portrait of George Doe. Detail of the painting by V. A. Golike. 1834

George Doe was mentioned in the historical novel by V. M. Glinka "The Fate of the Palace Grenadier" and is shown from an extremely negative side. He came out as an exploiter of a young Russian artist, a native of the village, whose talent was ruined by forcing the young man to copy other people's portraits; he passed off his work as his own, from which it turned out that most of the master's works were performed by his subordinates.

Alexander Vasilievich Polyakov (1801 - January 7, 1835) - Russian artist. The serf General P. Ya. Kornilov was given in 1822 as an assistant to George Doe. According to the agreement, Polyakov entered “study and work” with Dow until he left for England, on the condition that the serf painter be allowed to attend evening classes at the Academy of Arts. He was entitled to a salary of 800 rubles a year. “But of this amount, Mr. Dow gives him only 350 rubles, leaving the remaining 450 in payment for an apartment and a table, although he has this last one with his lackeys,” wrote the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. Dow painted portraits for the Military Gallery of Heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. Some of these portraits were painted by Polyakov, but Dow himself signed them. Many decades later, experts came to the conclusion that Polyakov also restored a large number of blackened portraits, carelessly executed by Dow.

In 1833, after the release of Polyakov from serfdom, the President of the Russian Academy of Arts A. Olenin signed a decree on the elevation of Alexander Polyakov to the rank of a free artist. From his own works are known: "Peter I at the shipyard with a view of Amsterdam" (1819) and "Portrait of Emperor Nicholas I" (1829). There are also his works in the State Historical Museum in Moscow and the Kostroma Art Museum: "Portrait of the twins Arkady and Ivan Kornilov", "Portrait of M. F. Kornilova and M. L. Kulomzina", "Portrait of E. P. Kornilov".

In addition to the portraits painted by Dow, Polyakov and Golick, the gallery already in the 1830s had large equestrian portraits of Alexander I and his allies - King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and Emperor Franz I of Austria. The first two were painted by the Berlin court painter F. Krueger , the third - by the Viennese painter P. Kraft.

Portrait of Alexander I (1838). Artist F. Kruger

Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Artist F. Kruger

Austrian Emperor Franz I. Artist P. Kraft

In Soviet times, the gallery was supplemented with four portraits of palace grenadiers, special troops created in 1827 to guard the home of veterans of the Patriotic War. These portraits were also done by George Doe. Later, the gallery was supplemented by two works by Peter von Hess - The Battle of Borodino and The Retreat of the French across the Berezina River.

E. P. Gau, 1862

The hall that houses the gallery was designed by the architect Carlo Rossi and was built from June to November 1826. He replaced several small rooms in the middle of the main block of the winter palace - between the White Throne Hall and the Great Throne Hall, a few steps from the palace church.

Karl Ivanovich Rossi(Italian Carlo di Giovanni Rossi; 1775-1849) - Russian architect of Italian origin, author of many buildings and architectural ensembles in St. Petersburg and its environs.

The ceiling with three skylights was painted according to the sketches of J. Scotty. The solemn opening ceremony of the hall took place on December 25, 1826. By the opening of the gallery, many portraits had not yet been painted, and frames covered with green rep with name plates were placed on the walls. As the paintings were painted, they were placed in their places. Most of the portraits were painted from life, and for those already dead or dead, portraits painted earlier were used. However, images of thirteen heroes of the war of 1812 were not found; in this regard, the places reserved for them are covered with green silk.

The fire that started in the Winter Palace on December 17, 1837 destroyed the decoration of all the halls, including the Military Gallery. But not a single portrait was harmed. The new decoration of the gallery was made according to the drawings of V.P. Stasov.

Vasily Petrovich Stasov(July 24, 1769, Moscow - August 24, 1848, St. Petersburg) - Russian architect.

The architect made some changes that gave the gallery a solemnly strict and more impressive appearance: the length of the gallery was increased by almost 6 m, and a choir gallery was placed above the cornice - a bypass gallery.

K. K. Pirate, 1861

Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich

Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov

Field Marshal Barclay de Tolly

A. S. Pushkin, in his poem "The Commander", dedicated to Barclay de Tolly, describes the Military Gallery in the first lines:

The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls:
She is not rich in gold, not in velvet;
It is not in it that the diamond of the crown is stored behind glass:
But from top to bottom, full length, all around,
With my brush free and wide
It was painted by a quick-eyed artist.
There are no country nymphs, no virgin Madonnas,
No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives,
No dancing, no hunting, but all raincoats and swords,
Yes, faces full of martial courage.
Crowd close artist placed


And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.
Often slowly between them I wander
And I look at their familiar images,
And I think I hear their militant cliques...

From the portraits of the famous commanders of the Patriotic War of 1812, masterfully painted by George Doe, beautiful courageous faces look at us, "full of martial courage", as Pushkin said about them. Military awards burn on the dark fabric of their uniforms, the moire of sashes shimmers, gold embroidery, aiguillettes and epaulettes glisten ...

Emperor Alexander I personally approved the lists of generals compiled by the General Staff, whose portraits were to decorate the Military Gallery. These were 349 participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814, who were in the rank of general or were promoted to general shortly after the end of the war.

For 10 years of work, George Dow and his Russian assistants V. A. Golike and A. V. Polyakov created 333 portraits, which are placed in five rows on the walls of the gallery. Thirteen portraits for various reasons remained unfulfilled. Instead, there are frames with the names of generals in the gallery.

All of Russia knew the names of the people whose portraits were placed in the Military Gallery. One could write a heroic ode about each of them.

Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly And Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov

Field Marshal Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818) - commander-in-chief of the Russian troops at the beginning of the war. He developed a plan for the retreat of the Russian army into the interior of the country and led the retreat operations until August 17, 1812. After his resignation, Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745-1813) took command, who was forced to continue the retreat and made the difficult decision to leave Moscow. All the victories that followed - from Borodin to Berezina - are associated with the name of Kutuzov, who proved himself to be a brilliant strategist.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky

General Nikolai Nikolaevich Raevsky (1771-1829) - a talented and courageous military leader. During the battle of Borodino, Raevsky's corps defended Kurgan height, located in the center of the position of the Russian troops. There were installed 18 guns of the battery, which received the name of Raevsky and repulsed all the attacks of the French.

Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration

General Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration (1765-1812) - "God rati he" - this is how his contemporaries pronounced his surname. For 30 years of service, Prince Bagration took part in 20 campaigns and 150 battles. In the battle of Borodino, he led the left flank, which received the first blow of the enemy. The French twice captured the earthen fortifications - Bagration Flushes and were twice driven out of there. During the next attack of the enemy, General Bagration raised his troops in a counterattack and at that moment was seriously wounded.

Alexey Petrovich Ermolov

General Alexei Petrovich Yermolov (1777-1861) - an outstanding military figure and one of the most popular people of his era. In the Patriotic War of 1812 Ermolov took part in all major battles. At the height of the battle on the Borodino field, M.I. Kutuzov sent him to the left flank, to the 2nd Army, to replace the seriously wounded Bagration, and Yermolov helped overcome the confusion of the troops there. Seeing that the central battery of Raevsky was taken by the French, he organized a counterattack, repulsed the battery and led its defense until he was shell-shocked by buckshot.

Denis Vasilievich Davydov

The name of Denis Vasilyevich Davydov (1784-1839) is inseparable from the Patriotic War of 1812 as the name of the initiator and one of the leaders of the partisan movement. The fighting talents of Denis Davydov were highly appreciated by M. I. Kutuzov and P. I. Bagration, and the poet N. M. Yazykov wrote about his poetic gift:

"Your mighty verse will not die,
Memorably alive
intoxicating, ebullient,
And militantly flying,
And wildly daring."

In 1949, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of A. S. Pushkin, a marble plaque was installed in the Military Gallery with lines from the poem of the great Russian poet "The Commander":

"... In a close crowd, the artist placed
Here the chiefs of our people's forces,
Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign
And the eternal glory of the Twelfth year ... ".

*
"I'll take you to the museum," my sister told me..."

Today I invite you to the museum. But, the museum is too big, so only a piece of it.
Hermitage Museum. How long have you been in it? Pitertsy come infrequently, on occasion. Once every few years. Sometimes - once ... in a lifetime.
This time I was amazed by the renovated Gallery. She became bright again! Let's talk about her...


Photo from the official website of the Hermitage.

Historical reference:

The Military Gallery of 1812 was created in 1826 according to the project of C. Rossi in the front part of the Winter Palace. It precedes the Great Throne (Georgievsky) Hall. The walls of the gallery are decorated with 12 stucco laurel wreaths with the names of the most important battles of 1812-814. More than 300 portraits represent the heroes of the war against Napoleon, who glorified Russia with their exploits.

The grand opening of the gallery took place in the reign of Nicholas I, on the anniversary of the expulsion of the French from Russia - December 25, 1826. The soldiers of the cavalry and infantry regiments marched through the gallery in a solemn march past portraits of military leaders, under whose command they fought valiantly in 1812-1814.

Therefore, we walk around the same hall, past the same paintings as Alexander Sergeevich!
It amazes me personally! Especially in this hall, I walk with special reverence ... And I read:




And this is what Grigory Grigorievich Chernetsov sketched in the year of its opening:


And then it was slightly reconstructed and the ceiling, for example, became different. Here is a picture of E.P. Gau, 1862.


The last reconstruction deprived us of seeing the gallery for some time.
Due to the significant deterioration of the roof of the Gallery of 1812 (the last repair was carried out in the 1960s), the Directorate of the State Hermitage decided to reconstruct the roof and skylights. After the repair of skylights in January 2001, the installation of a new roof began. And the ceiling shone again!

Up to the ceiling - portraits of Heroes.

Here, for example, Golenishchev-Kutuzov. But not the one, not Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich, he is in the next picture. And Pavel Vasilievich, then became the military Governor-General of St. Petersburg, is also cool!

But, for example, a representative of a glorious familyPalen Pavel Petrovich von der (1775-1834), count, cavalry general (still lieutenant general). Interestingly, he is also the son of the military governor-general of St. Petersburg P.A. von der Pahlen, who was elevated to the dignity of a count on February 22, 1799.




And this is just cat. Representative of the famous family of Hermitage cats. Which are fed at the expense of the Hermitage. And they, occasionally, overcoming satiety, deign to work... :))




We saw only a hundredth part of the Hermitage. Come more often!

And I was pleased to see that my favorite impressionists are in place, in place and knights in Lilliputian armor.

On the third floor, he approached the Renoir girl. “Hello girl,” I said, “I haven’t seen you for a long time…”
“Oh, hello,” she answered and laughed merrily, “why didn’t you come for so long? We missed you…"
My eyes were moistened. And my heart felt warm and calm ... :)
I will come again ... After all, they are waiting for us here ... Very much.

In the 1820s, the memory of the war was still fresh. An idea arose in society to capture all the participants in the Patriotic War of 1812. The heroes of the war had to "come to life" in order to forever take a firm place in the memory of the Russian people. This idea resulted in the creation of a kind of monument to the war of 1812 - the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace.

List approval

Emperor Alexander I himself personally approved the lists of generals whose portraits were to be placed in the Military Gallery. A portrait of an officer could be placed in the Military Gallery only on condition that he either participated in the hostilities against the Napoleonic troops in 1812-1814 in the rank of general, or was promoted to general shortly after the end of the war for distinctions shown in battles.

The Inspectorate Department of the General Staff of the Russian Empire compiled preliminary lists of generals who could be awarded the right to enter the Military Gallery. In December 1819, these lists were submitted to a committee specially created in August 1814 to evaluate generals worthy of inclusion in the Military Gallery. This committee continued its work until August 1820. However, by no means all the generals who meet the criteria for inclusion in the Military Gallery have been awarded the right to be represented in it. The Emperor and the General Staff settled on 349 heroes of the war of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814.

Emperor's Choice: George Doe

The question of who to entrust with the writing of so many portraits was also decided not without the participation of Emperor Alexander I. During the emperor's stay in Aachen in the autumn of 1818, the chief of the General Staff, Prince P.M. Volkonsky commissioned a then little-known English artist George Doe your portrait. Alexander entered the room just during the session and was struck by the similarity of the portrait and the speed with which the master worked. Soon, Dow received an invitation to St. Petersburg, where he was commissioned to paint a large number of portraits of the heroes of the war of 1812.

George Doe worked on these portraits for 10 years. But for one person to do this amount of work is very difficult. Therefore, in Russia, Russian artists Vasily Alexandrovich Golike and Alexander Vasilyevich Polyakov were assigned to help him. In total, they painted 332 portraits, while the remaining portraits, for one reason or another, remained unfulfilled. So, for example, in the gallery there are no portraits of the book. DI. Lobanov-Rostovsky and A.S. Kologrivov, who led the preparation of reserves in 1812.

The history of the portrait of the Decembrist S.G. Volkonsky. It was completed in 1823. However, after the well-known events of December 14 (26), 1825, the decision to place a portrait of this "state criminal", initially even sentenced to death, which was then replaced by exile, was canceled. Thus, the already made portrait lay in the storerooms of the Winter Palace for many years and was discovered only at the beginning of the 20th century, when the attitude of society and even the ruling circles towards the Decembrists changed. And only in 1903, the portrait of Volkonsky was placed in the gallery and took its rightful place in it.

There is still a lot of controversy surrounding the quality of Dow's portraits. Many researchers note that Dow and his assistants made a number of historical inaccuracies. Many war heroes had already died by that time, and their portraits could not be painted from nature. Artists made mistakes in uniforms, epaulettes, orders and ribbons, sometimes depicting those awards that this general never possessed, and sometimes they did not write the award badges that were required to be worn. However, all these inaccuracies cannot change the impression that is created at the entrance to the gallery.

G.G. Chernetsov, 1827

Gallery opening

The hall, which housed the future gallery, was designed by the famous architect Carlo Rossi and was built in a hurry from June to November 1826.

The grand opening of the gallery dedicated to the heroes of the war of 1812 took place on December 25 (January 7), 1826 - the day that marked the victorious end of the war. On this day, the very heroes of the war, whose portraits were on the walls of the gallery, and ordinary officers and soldiers of the guards regiments gathered in the Winter Palace - but they were all veterans of the war of 1812, awarded medals and orders for participating in this campaign.

Fire of 1837

Portrait of Alexander I by F. Kruger

Already in the 30s of the 19th century, the hall of the Military Gallery was equipped with a ceremonial portrait of Emperor Alexander I (performed by Franz Kruger). Nearby were ceremonial portraits of the monarchs of the allied states - the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III and the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. Portraits of Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov and M.B. Barclay de Tolly are located on the sides of the door leading to the St. George (Large Throne) Hall. On the walls are five horizontal rows of breast portraits of the heroes of the war of 1812 in gilded frames. They are separated by columns, full-length portraits and doors to adjacent rooms. Above these doors were twelve stucco laurel wreaths surrounding the names of the places where the most significant battles of 1812-1814 took place, from Klyastitsy, Borodin and Tarutino to Brienne, Laon and Paris.

But on December 17, 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace, which lasted three days. As a result, the decoration of all the halls suffered greatly, and he did not spare the Military Gallery either. But thanks to the courage of the guards soldiers, not a single portrait of the hero of the war of 1812 was harmed: they were all saved and taken out of the burning hall. In 1838-1839 the gallery was restored with some changes made by the architect V.P. Stasov. In this form, it has been preserved to this day.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who often visited the palace, was very fond of this gallery and dedicated wonderful lines to it in his poem about Barclay de Tolly "The Commander":

The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls:

She is not rich in gold, not in velvet;

It is not in her that the diamond of the crown is kept behind glass;

But from top to bottom, in full length, around,

With my brush free and wide

It was painted by a quick-eyed artist.

There are no country nymphs, no virgin Madonnas,

No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives,

No dancing, no hunting, but all raincoats and swords,

Yes, faces full of martial courage.

Crowd close artist placed

Here the chiefs of our people's forces,

Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign

And the eternal memory of the twelfth year ...

Often slowly between them I wander

And I look at their familiar images,

And, I think, I hear their militant cliques.

Many of them are gone; others whose faces

Still so young on a bright canvas,

Already grown old and drooping in silence

The head of the laurel...

Chronicle of the day: Russians attack Grandjean's detachment

The 7th Infantry Division from the 10th Army Corps retreated to the border with East Prussia. At Chavlei and Kelm, the detachment of General Granjean was attacked by the Russian avant-garde, but the French continued their retreat.

The detachment of General Paulucci continued to pursue the enemy and occupied Schrunden.

Person: George Doe

George Doe (1781-1829)

George Doe was born February 8, 1781 in the parish of St. James. His father, Philip Dow, was a mezzotint painter and engraver who worked with Hoggart and Turner, and also wrote political cartoons about life in America.

Initially, George trained with his father as an engraver, but he later became interested in painting. He began to study at the London Academy of Arts, from which he graduated at the age of twenty-two with a gold medal. He was well educated, spoke four European languages. In 1809, Dow became a member of the Academy of Arts, and in 1814 - an academician.

He enjoyed the patronage of the Duke and Duchess of Kent. In 1819, he went on a trip to Europe with the Duke of Kent, during which he met Alexander I in Aachen and made an impression on him. This meeting became very important in the life of the English artist. The Russian emperor ordered George Doe to paint portraits of Russian generals who participated in the war with Napoleon I. For 10 years, the artist worked on these portraits.

In 1826, the new Emperor Nicholas I invited Dou to his coronation, and in 1828 he was officially appointed First Artist of the Imperial Court.

In 1828 he returned to England, where he remained for several months. In 1829, Dow returned to St. Petersburg, but he soon developed serious health problems. The artist had pulmonary insufficiency throughout his life due to a childhood illness. In August 1829 Dow returned to London, and on 15 October he died.

There are no country nymphs, no virgin madonnas,

No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives,

No dancing, no hunting - but all raincoats, but swords,

Yes, faces full of martial courage.

A.S. Pushkin

332 portraits of generals who showed courage during the Patriotic War of 1812 adorn the Military Gallery, which stretches from the Armorial Hall to the Great Throne Hall of the Winter Palace. According to the project of Carl Rossi, by 1826, several small rooms for various purposes were combined to create a portrait hall. Since the opening of the gallery was bound to take place on December 25 - the day of the expulsion of Napoleon's army from the Russian land, the work on creating the interior of the hall and painting portraits was carried out in a rather hasty manner. And yet, on opening day, many places on the walls of the gallery were empty, draped with cloth. The name plates on them denoted the heroes, whose portraits were soon to take their places.

After the festive service in the Palace Church, followed by the consecration of the gallery, infantry and cavalry soldiers marched through it in a solemn parade, saluting the portraits of their heroic commanders.

It is worth noting that all these portraits were created by one artist - the Englishman George Dow, who was assisted by Alexander Polyakov and Wilhelm Golike. The list of generals was compiled by the Inspectorate Department of the General Staff, however, some names were deleted from there personally by Alexander I without explanation. Historians suggest that the emperor removed from the honorary gallery the military personnel who showed sympathy for the Decembrist uprising.

A fire in 1837 completely destroyed the interior of the Military Gallery. However, surprisingly, every single portrait of the heroes was saved from the fire. During the restoration, the architect Vladimir Stasov enlarged the gallery by almost 6 meters, making it even more significant and solemn.

The list of generals who were honored to decorate the gallery of the Winter Palace with their portraits was formed in 1820. Considering the huge scope of work, George Dow immediately began to write them. Alas, it turned out that by that time many generals from the list had already died, or were so middle-aged that they did not at all want to make the difficult journey along Russian roads from their provinces to the capital, with the sole purpose of posing for an artist a couple of times. Therefore, many of them were painted from already existing portraits sent to St. Petersburg from all over the country by the generals themselves, or their relatives. Several curious cases are known when a wife sent a portrait of her husband from the time of his youth, with a cover letter: “Despite the fact that my husband died at a respectable age, I can testify that over the years he has not changed at all.”

Published by order of the Sovereign Emperor. , 89 l.l. heliogravures and phototypes on expensive cardboard paper, 294, pp. text on velvet paper. There are 329 portraits sized 11.4x9.8 cm in alphabetical order of the names of the depicted faces of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812. 4 portraits per sheet in a golden ornamental frame. In addition, there are 4 more large full-length portraits of Emperor Alexander I, Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Kostantin Pavlovich, Prince M.B. Barclay de Tolly and Prince M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov, made by heliogravure. There are also 2 large views of the Military Gallery, executed in heliogravure. All the portraits of the "Military Gallery of 1812", except for a large portrait of Emperor Alexander I, painted by Kruger, were painted in the first half of the 20s of the 19th century by an English artist specially called for this purpose in 1819 in St. Petersburg, the famous portrait painter Georg Dau (Dawe), at the behest of Emperor Alexander I. Many of the portraits Dau painted from nature, while others - from the most faithful images. Following the collection of portraits, in the second half of the book, a reference text is placed in the same order, making it possible to get acquainted with the official activities, mainly in the troops and especially in the era of the wars with Napoleon, of all those persons who are depicted in the portraits. This information is not a biography, but only an abbreviated track record, which, by the way, gives a short list of military exploits and awards of each figure of that glorious era. Painstaking work, like track records, was performed by the secretary of the Imperial Russian Historical Society A.A. Golombievskiy. In publisher's green calico binding with artistic embossing in gold and silver, as well as 3 more colors on the front cover. Original light green bookends with floral ornaments. Format: 42x35 cm. Weight 8.5 kg. This deluxe edition was printed in a small number of copies not for sale. Rare in this form!

Bibliographic sources:

1. Antiquarian catalog of the Joint-Stock Island "International Book" No. 22, Military Affairs. Army and Navy. Moscow, 1933, No. 428.

2. Antiquarian catalog of the Joint-Stock Island "International Book" 50, Military history. History of the Russian Army. Moscow, 1934, No. 124.

3. Bibliographic index of literature and recommended prices for the section "Russian History" Mosbukkniga, No. 67, 250 rubles!

Nikolai Mikhailovich(1859-1919) - Grand Duke, infantry general, freemason. Participated in the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, served in the Cavalier Guard regiment. He made a great contribution to Russian historical science, published a number of publications and studies about the era of Alexander I. They are dedicated to the personality of the emperor himself and his associates, diplomatic relations between Russia and France. He owns the famous publication Russian Portraits of the 18th and 19th Centuries. The Grand Duke was chairman of the Imperial Russian Historical and Geographical Society, director of the Alexander III Museum. Nikolai Mikhailovich made a huge collection of butterflies. M. Dobuzhinsky, S. Diaghilev, A. Benois maintained friendly relations with him, he was familiar with the French politicians R. Poincaré and J. Clemenceau. In 1915, on the proposal of the professors of Moscow University, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Russian History. He shared the views of the opposition Duma majority on the critical situation in the country and welcomed the Provisional Government. He spoke out against the involvement of Russia in the First World War, predicted the upcoming social upheavals. Shot by the Bolsheviks in the Peter and Paul Fortress: A.V. petitioned for his release. Lunacharsky and M. Gorky, V.I. Lenin gave him permission, but at that time Nikolai Mikhailovich had already been executed. His literary archive was acquired by the Royal Berlin Academy.