The Armoury in the Moscow Kremlin

Leningrad: Aurora Art Publishers, 1982.

Item #31209

Hardcover, 135 pp.

In the very heart of the Soviet capital, on top of the Boroviteky Hill overlooking the River Moskva, there stands amidst the Kremlin buildings the Oruzheinaya Palata, as it is known in Russian (this is translated into English as the Armoury Museum, the Palace of Arms, the Armoury Hall, the Armoury Chamber, or simply the Armoury). This treasure trove, one of the Soviet Union's oldest museums, attracts more than 800,000 visitors a year who pay many compliments to the magnificent, outstanding relics of culture and art preserved in this depository. It is interesting to note that collections from the Armoury have been on display in many countries, including Great Britain, the German Democratic Republic, Denmark, Canada, Sweden, France, the USA, Czechoslovakia, and Japan.
Russia's first collection of works of applied art was started in the early fourteenth century, at a time when the territories of Russia were in the process of being amalgamated into one centralized, united state. Both chroniclers of the time and foreign travellers had occasion to remark on the opulence of the Grand Dukes of Muscovy. Stored at their Treasury, in addition to a prolific abundance of precious stones, gold, pearls, and silver, were artistic objects of exceptional beauty crafted by skillful armourers, goldsmiths, silversmiths, and painters invited to the Imperial Court of Moscow from as early as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The Imperial Treasury was also largely augmented by the diverse gifts presented by ambassadors and envoys from various foreign powers, most of which date back to the middle and second half of the seventeenth century, a time when Russia had established ties with nearly all the countries of Europe.

Price: $15.00