World history: Exhibition of the life of English royal courts of Tudor and Stuart in London

The exhibition of the life and customs of royal courts: Tudor, Stuarts and of their diplomatic relations with Russia opened on March 9, 2013 in the London Victoria and Albert Museum with the participation of Kremlin Museums. 

The exposition “Treasures of royal courts: Tudors, Stuarts and Russian tsars” is mainly  dedicated to the grandeur and splendor of royal courts from Henry XII to Charles II – from 1555 to the restoration of British Monarchy after the revolution. The starting point for it became another exhibition – “The Golden Age of the English court: from Henry VIII to Charles I”, which has been a great success in the Kremlin recently and many exhibits for which came from the London Museum.

The exhibition includes more than 150 items and tells the story of English monarchs from the late Middle Ages to the early Renaissance. Ceremonial and courtesy featured royal courts of the period, and the exposition chronologically introduces heraldry, ceremonial armor, official portraits, costumes, jewelry and items of interior decoration of the time. Among the most interesting exhibits are a little-known Hempdensky portrait of Elizabeth I, suspension of gold and enamel and cameo-portrait of the Queen, the book of the time, including the first edition of works by Shakespeare.

“This exhibition is a new approach to the era of Tudors and Stuarts, the opportunity to consider in detail such famous royal courts, as well as to look at the history from the Russian point of view”, said at the opening of the exhibition its curator Tessa Murdoch. 

According to the director of the Kremlin Museums Elena Gagarina, the idea to show a separate part of history of diplomatic relations with Russia belonged to British colleagues.

The exhibition is dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty and it is a part of an exchange program between the London Museum and the Kremlin Armory.