THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SAINT PETERSBURG UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS AS A PREMISE FOR THE CREATION OF THE MUSEUM OF THE SAME NAME AT THE BESTUZHEV COURSES (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE CENTRAL STATE HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF SAINT PETERSBURG)

The Museum of Antiquities and Fine Arts was opened at Saint Petersburg University in 1841, and at the Bestuzhev Courses, called the “women’s” faculty of the university, more than half a century later. Both museums had an educational and auxiliary significance. Their collections were formed over decades according to a similar scheme. The beginning of teaching the course in art history at the university was associated with the name of V. V. Stasov (1858), at the courses - with A. I. Somov (1884), subsequently it was taught by world-famous scientists (A. V. Prakhov, N. P. Kondakov, D. V. Ainalov, B. V. Farmakovsky). The university tradition of forming the Museum’s collections was transferred to the Higher Women’s Courses, where female students, based on museum materials, conducted educational and scientific work. The article traces the educational and auxiliary continuity of the university and courses in the form of the Museum of Fine Arts based on the materials of the Central State Historical Archive of Saint Petersburg, which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.