Paintings and engravings kept in the galleries of the Martial Chamber were documented in the note “Inspection of the Martial Chamber”. It included a draft inventory and a plan of the chamber as it was in January 1918.

The collection of the Martial Chamber, presented by Elena Andreevna Tretyakova to Emperor Nicholas II, consisted of historical documents, literary and graphic works, ancient icons, archaeological artifacts, a small amount of porcelainware and weapons. For the most part, it included engravings and lithographs (about 400 pieces), created mainly by foreign artists in the 18th and 19th centuries. They illustrated the military history of the country from the 11th to the second half of the 19th century.

In a petition addressed to the Emperor, Elena Tretyakova noted that

Tretyakova divided her collection into sections dedicated to the Russo-Tatar, -Turkish, -Polish, and -Swedish wars, the Seven Years’ War, the Napoleonic Wars and the Crimean campaign, as well as a special section with engravings and drawings depicting uniforms.

By the beginning of 1917, finish work was still underway in the building, but the galleries intended to store Elena Tretyakova’s collection were fully ready. As follows from the note, the engravings and paintings retrospectively depicting the history of the “wars of Russia” took their places on the walls.

Unfortunately, the inventory shows only the number of engravings hanging on the walls, and only some of the works are named. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that both paintings on the subjects of World War I and works dedicated to other themes were displayed in the galleries — a total of 343 engravings, 23 watercolors, eight drawings and one oil painting.