Grand Prince of all Rus Ivan III

Icon "Theotokos of Bogolyubovo with attending figures"
Moscow, the early XVIth century.
Wood, gesso ground, canvas, tempera.
Derived from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Framed icon "Saviour Made Without Hands" (Acheropita)
Icon board - the XVth century (?), painting - the XIXth century (?); the cover of the late XVIIth century; crescent pendant on the icon and decorative plaque with the image of Saint Basil the Great - 1853.

Wood, gypsum, fabric, gold, silver, precious stones; tempera, oil painting, enamel, carving, embossing.
Derived from the Upper Saviour's Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Processional cross "of Korsun"
Western Europe, the XVth century (?); silver plaques - Russia, the late XVIth - early XVIIth century.
Rock crystal, silver, metal, wood, velvet; carving, engraving.
Derived from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Pectoral icon "Christ Pantocrator (the Almighty); Four-pointed Cross"
Constantinople, the XX-XIth centuries; the mount of the late XIIIth - early XIVth century.
Lapis lazuli, gold; chasing, carving, gilding.
Derived from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
St. John the Forerunner
Carved icon.
The Byzantine Empire, the XIVth - first half of the XVth century.
Steatite; silver; carving, gilding.
Derived from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Pectoral reliquary icon with "The Nativity of Christ; St Simeon the God-receiver, Selected Saints"
Moscow, 1479 (?).
Gold; carving.
Derived from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Christ Almighty, the Cherub, Saints: St John the Merciful, Eustratius, Nicholas, Andrew of Crete, St Sergius (of Radonezh ?), St Catherine; Saviour Acheropita, the Seraph
Pectoral Reliquary Cross (panagia).
Moscow, workshop of the Grand Prince, 1470s.
Bone, silver; carving, gilding.
Derived from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Pectoral reliquary icon "The Virgin, the Twelve Apostles; the Crucifixion"
Moscow, second half of XVth century; cameo - Byzantium (?), the XIIth - XIIIth centuries (?).
Gold, rubies, sapphires, almandine, spinel, cinnamon stone; carving, filigree.
Derived from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Cross
Moscow, The Kremlin workshops, the early XVIth century.
Wood, gold, silver, pearls; casting, carving, filigree, gilding.
Derived from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Icon of the Virgin Hodegetria
Novgorod, last quarter of the XVth century.
Wood, tempera
Bear spear
Tver, first half - middle of the XVth century.
Damask steel, silver; smithery, carving, gilding.
Derived from the collection of the Armoury Chamber.
The Crucifixion; Saint Varlaam of Khutyn; the Cherub; the Calvary Cross
Pectoral coss.
Novgorod, the XVIth century.
Silver; casting, carving, gilding
Deesis
Pectoral Reliquary (Staurotechos ?).
Moscow, the late XVth century.
Silver; casting, filigree, carving, gilding.
Derived from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Pyx - "Large" Zion
Galvanocopy made in 1913 from the 1486 original.
Copper; galvanising, niello, silvering, gilding.
Received by the Moscow Kremlin Museums from the State Historical Museum.
Hagiographical icon of Metropolitan Peter
Moscow, 1480s.
Dionysius and his workshop.
Wood, fabric, gesso; tempera.
Derived from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
The Virgin Appears to St Sergius of Radonezh
Podea (veil).
Moscow, workshop of Grand Princess Maria Jaroslavna, the late XVth century; damask cloth - Italy, the XVth century.
Icon painter of the circle of Dionysius.
Silver, silver and gilt thread; weaving, embroidery
Holy-water basin
Donated by Grand Prince Ivan III to the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Moscow, last quarter of the XVth century.
Silver; chasing, carving, gilding
Construction slab
Moscow, 1491.
Architect Pietro Antonio Solari.
White-stone; hewing, carving, traces of painting.
From the Saviour (Spasskaya) Tower of the Moscow Kremlin.
Pulо coin
Tver, 1485-1490.
Copper; chasing.
From the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Armoury Chamber.
Moscow denga-coin (an ancient Russian monetary unit)
Moscow, 1480s.
Master Alexandro.
Silver; chasing.
Derived from the treasure-trove of the XVth-XVIth century coins, found in 1930 in the territory of Ascension Convent and Chudov Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin.
Capital of an arcade
Moscow, the early XVIth century.
White-stone; hewing, carving, whitewashing.
Derived from the Palace of the Grand Prince in the Moscow Kremlin.

March, 20 - July, 14, 2013

the One-Pillar Chamber of the Patriarch's Palace

Organized by:: the Moscow Kremlin Museums

01# Icon In the history of the Russian state one of the most important place is occupied by the figure of Grand Prince Ivan III. During his reign the unification of the Russian lands around Moscow entered its final stage. Having possessed a brilliant mind and the ability of strategic thinking Ivan III was able to outline the main political tasks and trends that were further developed by his son Vasily III and grandson Ivan IV the Terrible. In the time of Ivan III the search for a new paradigm of the Russia's development has begun, basing on the idea of Moscow as the Third Rome. Its main objectives were formulated under Vasily III and acquired the form of a political programme under Ivan IV. The energetic spirit of the epoch found vent in the formulation of new historical and cultural ideas and the creation of outstanding works of art, such as the iconostasis of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and the monumental fresco painting executed by Dionisius for the Virgin Nativity Cathedral of the Ferapontov convent. The Grand Prince was the one to organize the major reconstruction works in the Kremlin, turned by Italian architects into an excellent fortress with a magnificent Assumption Cathedral on its central square.

One of the most important sections of the exposition, entitled "The Heritage of Byzantium and the Private Piety of the Sovereign", is to illustrate the new Moscow ideology aimed at proving the right of the Russian Sovereigns, as blood relatives to the Byzantine Emperors, to succeed to the Empire that had fallen under the Turks. Exhibits in the section reveal the Byzantine ideas and symbols inherited by the Russian artistic tradition. Items worthy of particular note are the "objects of private piety" - reliquaries, pectoral crosses, panagias, which belonged to the Grand Prince and members of his family. These articles were believed to serve the best proof of “kinship” to the Byzantine Emperors.

The second theme of the project – "Gathering of Russian lands" – covers the dramatic process of the establishment of Russia as a state of the united cities or principalities. The third section, entitled "The Descendant of Saint Vladimir", includes the items presenting the return to the national historical roots, to the history of the Grand Prince's family.

The fourth section - "The Way to Autocephaly" - dwells upon the policy of the Grand Prince towards the autocephaly of the Russian Church, when the authority of the Church was strengthened through the glorification of the Russian Saints, first of all those who had been Church hierarchs. Under Ivan III the cult of Saint Peter, the Metropolitan of Moscow, was established. He was revered as a prayer not only for Moscow but for the whole of the Russian land as well. The highlight of the exposition in this section is the icon "Saint Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow with Scenes from his Life", created by Dionisius for the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. It became the cathedra of the Moscow Metropolitans and the Grand Prince did his best to fill it with precious church plate.

The title of the fifth and the last section – the "Ioannes Vasilii dei gratia magnus dux" (Ivan Vasilyevich, Grand Prince by the grace of God) – is derived from the citation, inscribed in Latin on a slab from the facade of the Saviour’s (Spasskaya) Tower that faces the Red Square. This slab serves a symbol of Russia's openness to the Western world and proof of Russia's joining the European family. The section presents the works that provide evidence of the intensive cultural contacts between the Moscow state, developed under Ivan III, and various countries of the Orient and Occident.

The project, covering such a remarkable period within the history of Russia, introduces the figure of Ivan III to the audience and reveals his contribution to the development of the Russian state and culture as well.

General partner of the project is Gasprombank
With the assistance of Statoil ASA, SNS Group of Companies
Mass media support by Россия 24, RiaNovosti, Радио Культура, Ваш досуг