Sirotkin House Sirotkin House is located on the high quay of the Volga river in Nizhnii Novgorod, Russia. It was built in 1916 by young architects brothers Viktor, Leonid, and Alexander Vesnins. For its harmonious neo-classic proportions and graceful colonnades, the house should be mentioned among the most beautiful buildings in the city. Its first owner, Dmitrii Sirotkin, was merchant, ship owner, and philanthropist. He also leaded the government of Nizhnii Novgorod for some time and became famous for such social actions as beginning of construction of the sewerage system and improving of the tram and electricity networks in the city. After the Revolution in 1917 Sirotkin immigrated to Serbia; his house was nationalized by the state and used as an art museum. From 1992 to 2007 the building experienced its first restoration. Now it is open for the visitors, and, besides its historic interiors (original floors, doors, ceiling paintings, chandeliers, and even radiators), it offers to observe`a wonderful collection of European Art. The foundation of this collection was led in the early XX century by some private donors. After the Revolution it was enriched by some oeuvres from nationalized collections of ducks Sheremetievs, Orlov-Davydovs, and Abamelek-Lazarevs, later, in the 1930s and 40s, some pieces from the State Hermitage and the Moscow Museum of Foreign Art (contemporary Pushkin Museum) were given to Nizhnii Novgorod. However, the main part of the collection was formed after the Second World War in 1946 thanks to the Soviet soldiers who brought a big quantity of art pieces from Hungarian private collections as trophies. Nowadays more than 200 items are conserved in the depository of the Nizhnii Novgorod art Museum, and many of them are exposed in the halls of the Sirotkin House. The real rears of the collection are paintings by Cranach, El Greco, Crespi, Jordans and wooden sculptures by unknown German Renaissance masters.