The Arsenal of Tsarskoe Selo houses the exhibition In Rememberance of 'Dear Mikhail' showcasing four objects that belonged to Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia, the youngest son of Emperor Paul I and brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I.
Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (1798–1849) was appointed at birth as General–Feldtseykhmeyster (chief of artillery) and the commander of the Life-Guards Artillery Battalion, the ranks he later fully assumed. Despite his mother's efforts to discourage him from a military career, Mikhail had a penchant for all things military, like his elder brother Nicholas, and engaged in the campaign against Napoleon at the age of sixteen. After the sudden death of Alexander I, Mikhail took part in suppressing the Decembrist revolt of 1825. Then he fought in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29 and the Polish-Russian War of 1830-31.
Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich collected Russian and European paintings and, especially avidly, weapons. After his sudden death in 1849, a significant portion of his weapons collection from the Mikhailovsky and Kamennoostrovsky Palaces was transferred to the Arsenal at Tsarskoe Selo, into a separate room with mementos of 'dear Mikhail', or 'dear Mikhailo', as Nicholas I usually addressed his younger brother in their official and friendly correspondence.
The four artefacts on display are courtesy of St Petersburg's Artillery Museum, in whose collection they currently reside.
- Russian infantry officer's pattern 1798 smallsword, made by Sestroretsk Arms Factories in 1847-48 for Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich's 50th jubilee; decorated with etched and glided vegetal ornaments in the 'Zlatoust style', the grand duke's monogram and his birth and jubilee dates.
- Russian infantry officer's pattern 1826 Gold Sword For Bravery, made by Tula Arms Plant, awarded to Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich after the Polish-Russian War of 1830-31.
- Russian life-guards horse artillery officer's ljadunka (shoulder belt cartridge box); the lid is decorated with a double-headed eagle having a shield with the image of St George the Bringer of Victory on its chest and seated on crossed cannon barrels.
- 1:5 scale model of the Neapolitan 6-pounder (96 mm bore diameter) field cannon, presented to Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich by King Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies in 1837, when a strapping yet frail Mikhail underwent some treatments in the Kingdom of Naples; such full-size smothbore muzzle-loading artillery pieces were used by the Army of the Kingdom of Naples during the Napoleonic Wars.