Religious wooden sculpture is an outstanding phenomenon in the Russian art. Together with icons and objects of decorative applied art it constituted an integral part of artistic ensembles of Russian churches and chapels. The earliest memorable sculpture objects survived to our days date back to the 14th-15th c. The 16th-17th c. was the golden ages of wooden plastic art of the old Russia. In the 17th c. along with the other kinds of cult arts the art of sculpture acquired its new particular features.

The unique wooden sculptures in the collection of Perm State Art gallery fully reflect the evolution of Russian sculpture art. Being one of the most well known museum collections of this kind in Russia it was formed in the 1920-40s as a result of expeditions to the northern territories of Perm region. They were initiated by A.K.Syiropyatov  who soon left for Moscow and were continued by N.N.Serebryennikov. The present gallery collection numbers as many as 400 wooden sculpture items.

This site presents the best works of wooden sculpture arts in the collection of Perm State Art Gallery that possess a high cultural, artistic and historical value.

The site is executed at support of Soros Foundations (Russia)