The Miraculous Rescue of Alexander III and the Imperial Family, 1888

Avenir Crigorjewitsch Grilliches

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

On October 17, 1888, Alexander III (1845–1895) and the imperial family were aboard a train that derailed and crashed near the station of Barki. There were many casualties, but no member of the czar's family was hurt. Alexander personally directed rescue operations. To commemorate the incident this medal was created by the senior engraver of the imperial mint in Saint Petersburg, Avenir Gerliches. In 1886, when Alexander III wished to change the design of Russian coinage, the task was given to Gerliches. The format he created lasted until the Revolution of 1917.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art