Kiryanova Olga G. — The State Research Institute for Restoration, junior research associate of the Scientific and Organizational Department
E-mail: psk-ok@mail.ru

The article analyzes the prerequisites for the creation of church museums in pre-revolutionary Russia, and also identifies their role in preserving the artistic heritage at the present stage. The problem of the unsatisfactory condition of the objects of Russian material culture, especially the works of medieval religious art, became acute for Russian society in the early 19th century. A significant number of such artifacts were located in Orthodox churches and monasteries. Church vestries and libraries were the main places where icons, illuminated manuscripts and books, works of decorative and applied art, and textiles intended for liturgical use, as well as items that were not intended for church use but were valuable for historical or memorial reasons, were stored. Unfortunately, the long-term lack of a systematic approach from the Church to the monitoring of condition of this part of the country's cultural heritage, as well as the lack of an objective understanding of the value of these artifacts for Russian history and culture, has sometimes led to their loss. The concerns of the scientific community, as well as the most educated part of the Orthodox clergy, have led to public initiatives to establish museums. In the first half of the 19th century, the Church's own efforts to preserve and display its Orthodox heritage became increasingly relevant. The most notable items were transferred from churches and sacristies to museums and antiquities collections established by various church organizations for the purpose of preservation, study, and exhibition. However, the process of establishing a network of church museums was interrupted by the events of 1917 and was only resumed in the second half of the 20th century. Currently, the Russian Orthodox Church has approximately three hundred museums, mostly of a complex storage, where the artistic heritage is stored and presented.

Antiquities museum, artistic heritage, church museum, cultural heritage, icon, Patriarchal Chamber of Church Art, religious art, Russian Orthodox Church.