Pushkin Museum the Alexander III Fine Arts Museum in 1910 by Mikhail Schekin (1871–1920), the Russian consul in Trieste, and include unique Old Master works such as painting by Giambattista Pittoni. After 1924, many paintings from Moscow and St. Petersburg state-owned and private collections were provided to the Museum. These were artworks by Western European painters from the Rumyantsev Museum (Moscow), as well as the private collections of Sergei Tretyakov (1834-1892), the Yusupovs, the Shuvalovs, Henri Brocard (1836-1900), Dmitry Schukin (1855-1932), and other Russian collectors. Pieces provided by the State Hermitage were of particular importance. However, the gallery was completed only in
Hermitage Museum art: "Venus disarming Mars" by Rubens was once in the collection of the Rheinsberg Palace in Berlin, and was apparently looted by Soviet troops from the Königsberg Castle in East Prussia in 1945. At the time, Mikhail Piotrovsky said the painting would be cleaned and displayed. The museum announced in July 2006, that 221 minor items, including jewelry, Orthodox icons, silverware and richly enameled objects, had been stolen. The value of the stolen items was estimated to be approximately $543,000 but by the end of 2006 several of the stolen items were recovered. In recent years, the Hermitage launched several