From imperial to national museum: the importance of private collecting for the development of national ideas in XIXth century Russia

The article focuses on the relationship between Europeanization of Russia and collecting as a representation of the government, first of all. the monarchy of the XIX centuiy. The author concludes that the court collecting of the XIX"' century was in line with the ongoing ambiguous process of Europeanization Passion for romanticism and the formation of nationalism led to the reorientation of collecting from European to Russian art. In addition, the gradual separation of private and public space of power led to the situation when collecting practices for the court circle became a part of the sphere of privacy, personal tastes and interests, and for the general public, on the contrary, - a part of the public communications sphere.