Golitsyn Hospital (Голицынская больница) was built with a 900,000 rouble private endowment of the late Prince Dmitry Golitsyn (1721–1793), on the condition that the hospital would remain free to all, regardless of wealth or creed.
The painting was bought by the leading collector Pavel Tretyakov for a record 10,000 roubles, but Tretyakov wanted Repin to replace the maids carrying the empty icon-case with "a beautiful young girl, exuding spiritual rapture".
With a starting capital of 42 million roubles, the Chinese side provided airports, buildings, warehouses, and maintenance facilities.