History and Culture: Exhibition “The Precious Decoration of Russian Icons of the XV – early XX century” presented in Moscow

The exhibition The Precious Decoration of Russian Icons of the XV – early XX century presented in the State Historical Museum (Moscow).

The exhibition is dedicated to the precious decoration of Russian icons of the XV – early XX century. The museum’s collections reveal the traditional features and fascinating beauty of the decoration of icons through the materials covering a huge chronological period of the XV – early XX century.

The decoration of a Russian icon is a complex and little-known to museum visitors phenomenon. The exhibition shows icons with various adornments. Precious oklads and embroidered rizas, crowns and tsatas, veils and ornaments, various hangings will help to recreate the image of icons in temples and private homes. Both chronicles and later written sources testify to the widespread custom in Russia of decorating sacred images in a special way.

The exhibited artifacts, masterfully executed in the technique of casting, embossing, skan’, enamel, sewing, etc. will demonstrate the highest artistic level of Russian applied art.

Presented in chronological order, the history of the formation and development of the tradition of icon decoration in Russia will have a special tone to it thanks to the outstanding works of icon painting that make up the core of the exposition. Some of the works are being exhibited for the first time.

The exhibition will run until March 27, 2023.