Early Russian art first became an object of collecting in the middle of 19th century. At that time the connoisseurs took an interest in monuments which, as a rule, dated from the 17th century or more recent periods. Older icons were hardly visible under oil-varnish which blackened with time. Quite often the original painting was hidden under coats of paint made in subsequent years. In the 1870s, a new technique of restoration made it possible to reveal the original layers of paint. Icons thus restored were bought for large private collections. Beginning from 1890 several small exhibitions of old icons were held during archaeological congresses. A more representative exhibition was held in 1913.
In early Russia an icon was not only part of the adornment of a church, but an indispensable article in every home. Icons were placed in living rooms, over outer gates, on doors leading to the stables, at wells and on road sign-posts to keep off the evil spirit. Icons belonging to rich people and prosperous churches were often covered with silver or golden trimmings which concealed the background and outside surface. Glazed image cases, kiots, which protected the painting from dust and at the same time played a decorative role began to appear from the late 18th century.
Icons were painted on boards, mainly of bass wood, as linden was not so sensitive to changes in humidity and was less likely to warp than other kinds of wood. In the North of Russia, icon painters often made use of larch and spruce. A large icon was painted on several boards which were connected by pegs and braced by splines which helped to avoid warping. The face of the icon board was pasted over with canvas - pavoloka.
The pavoloka was covered with a smooth, solid coat of ivory-coloured priming - Levkas, or gesso ground. Icons were painted with tempera - pigments mixed with egg yolk. In luxurious icons the making of the actual drawing was preceded by gilding of the background.
After the October Revolution private collections as well as the most important works from the churches and monasteries (now closed) were nationalized and gathered in the Central Restoration Workshops. After their scientific examination and evaluation they were distributed among the museums of Moscow and regional towns, where they formed part of the general historical artistic exhibitions mounted in those centres.
The progress in art research and the gradual accumulation of material made it possible to consider the setting-up of a special museum. The idea was favoured by Acad. Grabar who did much to bring the plans into reality. In 1947 a decision was taken to establish the new museum on the territory of the abolished St Andronicus Monastery of the Saviour (Pl. 66), where, at one time, the great icon painter Andrei Rubliov was a monk.
The museum was given the name of Andrei Rubliov. It was decided that its collection would be made up from works in storage in other museums. This plan, however, met with opposition: museums objected to their well-chosen collections being made incomplete. Expeditions were sent out to different regions of Central and Northern Russia and their acquisitions became the main source in building up the museum collection. Among the icons found by thy expeditions - some of them were literally saved just in time - were works of outstanding quality which have since been the subject of numerous studies and publications. An important contribution was made by a group of artists who devoted their time to painting facsimile copies of old frescoes. Their task required enthusiasm and exertion: oId murals are often located in places that are not easy to reach; besides, the copyists had to prepare paints from local materials, mainly clays, which were used by the medieval masters.
The museum's collection was also enriched by works acquired through the State Purchasing Commission and by donations and bequests. One such bequest in 1977 gave the museum an excellent collection of icons, old metal sculptures and antiques. They came from the family of the writer N. Krasheninnikov to mark the centenary of his birth.
At present the museum has in its possession a collection of 14th - 19th century icons of the Moscow, Tver and Northern schools, fragments of monumental painting, early Russian wooden sculptures and facsimile copies of frescoes.