The foundation day of the State Tretyakov Gallery, the national museum of Russian visual arts from the 10th to the 21st century, is considered to be May 22, 1856. On this day, collector, merchant, and textile manufacturer Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired the paintings "Temptation" by Schilder and "Clash with Finnish Smugglers" by Khudyakov. Having set himself the goal of creating a museum of the Russian national school of painting in his youth, Tretyakov dedicated over 40 years of his life to this project. He was friends with the Peredvizhniki (the Itinerants) artists, supporting them in various ways, including financially, which helped the collection to acquire their best works. In 1881, the gallery was opened to the public. In 1892, Tretyakov donated his collection to Moscow. At that time, the collection included 1287 paintings, 518 drawings, and 9 sculptures. Later, the collection was enriched with paintings that belonged to Tretyakov's brother, Sergey Mikhailovich. Until the October Revolution of 1917, the gallery was called the Moscow City Art Gallery of Pavel and Sergey Tretyakov. In 1918, a decree on the nationalization of the gallery was issued, and it was renamed the State Tretyakov Gallery. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Tretyakov Gallery became one of the largest art museums in Russia and Europe. Several small Moscow museums were incorporated into it: the Tsvetkov Gallery, the Museum of Icon Painting and Painting named after I.S. Ostroukhov, and the painting gallery of the Rumyantsev Museum. The gallery houses a unique collection of Russian icons, featuring works by A. Rublev, F. Grek, and Dionysius. The 19th-century Russian painting is represented by the best works of Kiprensky, Tropinin, Vasnetsov, and Bryullov. The gallery's collection includes the best works of the Peredvizhniki: Kramskoy, Perov, Makovsky, and Ge. The halls dedicated to Repin, Surikov, Levitan, Serov, and Shishkin are the jewels of the collection. Currently, the Tretyakov Gallery's collection numbers more than 180,000 works of art. This vast collection is housed in the architectural complex on Lavrushinsky Lane and the building on Krymsky Val. By a decree of the President of the Russian Federation in 1995, the State Tretyakov Gallery was designated as one of the most valuable objects of Russian culture.