The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, which incidentally has no ties whatsoever to the famous poet after whom it is named, is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, Russia. Since its inception in 1912 it has been one of the country’s foremost exhibitors of fine arts, alongside St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum. However it does not just house European work but also an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian, Near East, Hellenistic, Coptic, Byzantine and Roman art. These are all located on the museum’s vast ground floor.
The museum is also home to ‘The Museum of Casts’; an impressive look back at sculptures through several of the world’s most prominent ancient civilizations. The collection comprises over 750 works which were once used to educate University of Moscow students. There is also an interesting set of copies of famous ancient wall and tomb paintings. Particular masterpieces at the museum include the Statue of Pharaoh Amemenhet, the Figures of High Priest Amenhotep and Priestess Rannai, a Greek Amphora with Heracles and Cerberus and Black Sea Stele depicting Two Warriors.
