The visit began by looking at Alexander Ivanov’s painting “Epiphany”. The guests were attracted by the works of Ivan Aivazovsky, Karl Bryullov’s canvas “The Last Day of Pompeii”, and the room filled with portraits of Russian tsars and emperors. They examined about ten halls in the largest collection of Russian fine arts. Its unique collection comprises more than 400,000 items including paintings, drawings, sculptures, decorative and applied art, folk arts and crafts.
The excursion ended with a tea party in a small hall decorated with paintings of the Peter the Great era and ancient engravings. After tea, the presidents and their wives took a stroll around the Mikhailovsky Gardens and walked to the Church of Our Savior on Blood – not far from the Russian Museum. The two leaders greeted the crowd of city residents.
The Russian and US Presidents completed their summit. The two leaders and their wives bade a warm farewell to each other on the steps of the Russian Museum before the guests headed for the airport.