Housed in the 18th Century Governor’s mansion, Yaroslavl’s art museum has an extremely impressive collection of 18th- 20th Century Russian paintings spread out across many palatial style rooms of this well-preserved building. In the main ballroom hang huge portraits of prominent Russian nobility such as Catherine the Great and the Empress Elizabeth as well as masterpieces by Aivazovsky and Makovsky and stunning period furniture. The rest of the 2nd floor is filled with beautiful rural paintings of fields, peasants, wanderers and old farming villages by masters such as Shishkin, Kuindzhi and Repin and scenes from the battlefields and far off mountains by the likes of Perov. The undoubted highlights of the impressive collection include Vasnetsov’s fairytale depiction of medieval Moscow, Roerich’s sketches for the Snow Maiden opera and a magical Levitan landscape. The atmospheric Governor’s study leads into a room filled with 19th Century portraits of local landowners and dignitaries who most likely would have been guests at the great house. The top floor is given over to contemporary exhibitions and a small collection of Russian cubism and socialist realism. There's also a sculpture garden in the back with sculptures made by contemporary Russian artists. The garden is usually closed in snowy months and entrance costs extra.