Russian culture abroad: Treasures of the Moscow Kremlin from Ivan the Terrible to Peter the Great are presented in Dresden

November 30, 2012 Dresden opens an exhibition “Russian court from Ivan the Terrible to Peter the Great. Between West and East” from the collection of Museums of the Moscow Kremlin.

The main purpose of the exhibition is to show to wide audience unique features of the image of the court of Russian rulers, which is a real “crossroads of cultures”. Elite court environment united a “splendor of the East” and the acquaintance with art and political language of the Western culture. A significant section of the exposition is dedicated to the products of Russian masters, made in Kremlin workshops in the 16-17 centuries. These works embodied a fruitful synthesis of national Russian, Eastern and Western traditions. Among them of particular interest is a front bahterets of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovish – a rare type of armor consisting of a series of metal plates, connected by chain mail weave.

Eastern group of monuments consists of weapons, armor, and ceremonial horse harness, jewelry items, created in Turkey and Iran in the XVI-XVII centuries in the treasury of Russian rulers.

The exposition also includes a large group of monuments of Western Art silver – things for different purposes, played an important role in the parade and design life of the life of Russian court.

Of great value are accessories and attributes of the important state and church ceremonies, ritual items, and memorabilia of Russian tsars of the Romanov dynasty – Mikhail Fyodorovich, Alexey Mikhailovich, Tsar Peter Alexeyevich as well as personal items and ceremonial vestments of the high clergy.

Two valuable exhibits of the exhibition belong to German side. This is a stored in Dresden golden ladle of the Tsar Ivan the Terrible and bizarre sapphire in the form of the nose – the gift of Peter the Great to the Saxon Prince Elector Augustus the Strong.

The topic of the exposition is best suited to Dresden, located in the very heart of Europe and which is a kind of crossroads of cultures. The exhibition opens another interesting page of the history of relations between Russia, East and West.