SHOWCASE 3
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Most of the items presented in the showcase are made in the workshops of the Kremlin, in Goldsmithing and Silversmithing Chambers. The heyday of the workshops (goldsmithing, silversmithing, armoury, icon painting) is connected with the transformation of Moscow into the political, economic and cultural centre of Russia of the 17th century. The best artistic forces of the country worked in the Kremlin's and patriarchal workshops. Performing tsarist and patriarchal orders, they improved and enriched the techniques of processing precious metals; there developed a style of applied art of the 17th century, which continued the artistic traditions of previous periods and acquired new features - decorativeness, brightness and elegance. This style was colourful and life-affirming.
In the middle of the 17th century, a variety of artistic methods of processing gold and silver are used—embossing, complex carving, niello, gilding, and enamel technique.
Ambassador of the Duke of Tuscany, Jacob Reitenfels made the following record in his diary: "the number of skilled masters, once very small in Muscovy, has greatly increased in our time, and the masters themselves have improved to a high degree. Russians have achieved this thanks to the natural comprehension and the ability of their mind ... they welcome foreigners to their country ... and they often surpass them in new inventions.
A variety of technical methods required specialisation. Masters were divided into carvers, forgers, niello specialists, etc. A complex thing was often performed by a whole group of masters - one master forged a vessel, the other applied an ornament and the third performed niello. The showcased Gospel (1633) is notable for its variety of techniques—its cover made of silver and partly gilded is decorated with pearls, carving, chasing and semiprecious stones. Groom's wedding crown and bride's wedding crown are decorated with niello and fine carving. Variety of metalworking techniques is represented by incense, feeding horn, drinking vessel (korchik) and a wine cup (charka).
