The sculptural image of the poet Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov on display in the exhibition was made especially for the city of Yaroslavl in 1906.

In 1902, the Yaroslavl City Council decided to name “…the boulevard running from the Volga to Kazansky Boulevard” Nekrasovsky Boulevard and install a bust of the poet on it. That year, Russia saw numerous commemorative events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov’s death.

From 1903 to 1906 the Yaroslavl citizens raised money to create the monument. The poet’s brother Fyodor Alexeyevich Nekrasov donated one thousand rubles to the project.

The bust was commissioned to Matvey Afanasyevich Chizhov, a Russian sculptor, academician, and member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. He worked extensively in the genre of portrait bust. Chizhov participated in designing the monument “Millennium of Russia” in Novgorod and sculpted a statue of Catherine II for the monument near the Alexandrinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg. He also created monuments to Nicholas I in Kiev, Alexander II in Saratov, Governor-General Mikhail Nikolaevich Muravyov in Vilno, modern Vilnius, and others.

He sculpted one of the earliest images of Nikolay Nekrasov (1881). In 1906 the bronze figure of the poet and the pedestal for it were produced and delivered from Saint Petersburg to Yaroslavl.

However, the idea of mounting the bust on the Volga embankment of the city of Yaroslavl was never realized. Its dimensions did not correspond to the architect’s idea, and the Yaroslavl City Council cut the estimate of the monument several times. The amount that was allocated by the Council, was equal to 3300 rubles. It turned out to be insufficient for making a large bust of the poet. The monument was too small for the city embankment.

The Yaroslavl local historian Ilarion Alexandrovich Tikhomirov recalled,