Vasilchikov, A. A.

As the grandson of Kirill Razumovskii, A. A. Vasilchikov shared familial ties to Uvarov, but the two men led very different lives, and even the archeological connection, if there was one, would have been strained. Vasilchikov had served in the Russian mission in Rome, and had become very familiar with western museums. He returned to Petersburg to direct the Hermitage, 1879-1889, and he developed a talent for transferring art from imperial palaces to the museum. In terms of archeological additions, he acquired P. A. Saburov’s collection of Greek terracotta, and Antonina Bludova’s rich familial collection of antiquities. Kondakov worked there briefly under him, advising on Byzantine art. When Stroganov died in 1882, Vasilchikov replaced him at the Archeological Commission. This did not last long. Vasilchikov was so seriously in debt that Alexander III set up a guardianship for him in 1886, and he left the Commission, replaced by a genuine archeologist, though one with no better relations with the Uvarovs: Bobrinskii.