A stunning piece of jewelry, a kind of ancient Russian "mask of Tutankhamun."
The youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, as you know, died mysteriously (in 1591), which allowed Godunov to ascend the throne. Then the confusion with False Dmitry began. In May 1606, False Dmitry was thrown out of the window of the Kremlin tower. The next Tsar Vasily Shuisky had to deal with False Dmitry II, who loomed on the outskirts of Moscow right up to 1610. To emphasize that the tsarevich has been dead for a long time (and not sitting in Tushino), Tsar Vasily Shuisky initiated a noisy PR story about the fact that the innocently murdered child Dimitri Ioannovich became a saint.
To confirm the death of the Tsarevich, a special commission was sent to Uglich under the leadership of Metropolitan Filaret (father of the future Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich). The commission had to certify that the body of the prince was in place.
The grave of Dmitry was opened, while "an extraordinary incense" spread throughout the cathedral. The relics of the tsarevich were found incorruptible (according to opposition rumors, there was a fresh corpse of a child with a handful of nuts in his hand, it was said that Filaret had bought his young son from a certain archer, who was then killed, and his body was placed in the tomb instead of the body Dmitry).
It was impossible to leave such wonderful relics in Uglich: a splendid news feed! Let's distract the country from the increase in taxes and a possible default. A solemn procession with the relics moved towards Moscow; near the village of Taininskoye, she was met by Tsar Vasily with his retinue, as well as Dmitry's mother, nun Martha (Queen Maria Nagoya). The coffin was opened, but Martha, looking at the body, could not utter a word. Then Tsar Vasily approached the coffin, strongly identified the prince and ordered to close the coffin.
Martha regained consciousness only in the Cathedral of the Archangel, where she announced that her son was in the coffin. The body was placed in a shrine near the grave of Ivan the Terrible - "in the chapel of John the Baptist, where his father and his brothers are."
The current location of the relics of the tsarevich in the cathedral (now in the main space, a stone canopy with a fence was built later). Ivan the Terrible with his two eldest sons was buried behind the altar barrier, and there is no access to him.
Promotional video:
Immediately miracles began to happen at the tomb of Dmitry - the healing of the sick, crowds of people began to besiege the Archangel Cathedral. By order of the tsar, a letter was drawn up describing the miracles of Dmitry of Uglich and sent out to the cities. In the same year 1606, Dmitry was canonized. Thus, from the 17th century, he became one of the most revered Russian saints.
Why am I telling this? To make it clearer why this thing is so luxurious.
In the background is the lid of St. Kirill Belozersky.
From the Shuisky dynasty, exactly 1 ruler lingered on the Russian throne, and the first Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich, ascended the throne. The son of the same Filaret, who found the remains of the prince. Now he has become a patriarch and, de jure, the head of state with a young son.
Filaret knew about PR no worse than his predecessor, so the story of reverence for Tsarevich Dimitri continued to unfold. Moreover, the new dynasty constantly tried to emphasize its connection with the last Rurikovichs, continuity. For example, Mikhail and his son Alexei called their children the same names as Ivan the Terrible, they also ordered to make measured icons from them, well, they supported all other monarchist attributes. The first Romanovs diligently emphasized that they were not to blame for the troubles of the Time of Troubles, these were all the Godunovs and Shuisky, and they, the Romanovs, were not even close, they just went out to smoke.
Therefore, they continued to actively invest in the development of the cult of Rurikovich Dimitri.
In 1630, by order of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, this very exhibit was created.
Officially, it is called the Cover of the Shrine of Tsarevich Dimitri
and is kept in the Armory, that is, it is part of the funds of the Moscow Kremlin Museums.
The rest of the coffin (coffin) has not survived: they were stolen during the Patriotic War of 1812. It was only possible to save this cover, with the image. On the sides, most likely, there were simply patterns, as on the one where Dmitry's relics lie today.
In the Archangel Cathedral, the relics of the tsarevich are in another shrine, without this cover.
Inside view of the opened modern reliquary in the cathedral.
Here is a description of the crayfish cover from the museum's catalog:
“The lid of the crayfish is one of the most significant creations of the jewelers of the Silver Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, made under the guidance of one of the best jewelers in the country, Gavrila Ovdokimov.
On the lid there is a chased high-relief figure of a young prince in elegant vestments. Although the image is subject to a certain canon, the prince's childish face, softly modeled, with a slightly protruding lower lip and wide open eyes, gives the impression of a well-known portrait of the image. This work testifies to the exceptionally high level of professional skill of Russian chasers of the 17th century”.
This is the only photo in which I was able to photograph the full-length cover. Alas, it turned out vague.
It is very cool that the names of the artists who made this gilded "portrait" have survived.
Here he is, our "Russian Tutankhamun", a masterpiece of jewelry art in the genre of a posthumous portrait!