I. A. Maslennikova The Tsarina’s Golden Chamber  in the Kremlin Palace: towards the  history of the creation and restoration  of its wall paintings

Abstract: Recently Russian historical science has devoted significant attention to the process of development, transformation and representation of the image and ideology by a political power. Monumental works of painting were the traditional sphere for the embodiment of the Moscovy Rus’ ideology during the XVI–XVIIth centuries, including the decoration of the Grand Duke’s, and later the Tsar’s, residence – the Kremlin Palace. The article focuses on the history of one of the lesser studied monuments of the Kremlin: the Russian tsarinas’ throne room – the Tsarina’s Golden Chamber in the Grand Kremlin Palace. The masterful execution of the paintings on the chamber’s walls are considered among the most outstanding works of Russian monumental painting of the first half of the XVIIth century, while their subject theme presents an attempt at creating a comprehensive image of the ideal Orthodox Tsarina, protectress of the faith and relics. The article reconstructs the main stages in the history of the creation, revelation and restoration of the mural paintings in the throne room, presents for the first time a detailed description of the subject content of the paintings, and exposes its historical-literary basis and ideological concept. This permits to include the Tsarina’s Chamber among the list of the most important monuments of Russian Medieval Art, and also to enrich the understanding of the political ideology in the XVI–XVIIth centuries and the particularities of its artistic embodiment.

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