SHOWCASE 3. MOSCOW JEWELLERY OF THE 15TH CENTURY

The end of the 14th and the early 15th century was the pe­riod when the political prestige of Moscow reached an unpreceden­ted level. This period was marked by the successful development of Moscow jeweller's art. The works of art of that time which re­flected inexhaustible creativity of Moscow goldsmiths are no­table for stylistic dissimilarity. The manner of execution of some of the articles bears witness to the marked rebirth of artistic tradi­tions of pre-Mongolian art. For example, the golden crown and halo from the icon of the Mother of God of Bogolyubovo, as well as golden haloes of the icon of the Virgin Galaktotrophousa (‘the Milk-Giver’) are similar to the jewellery of the Old Ryazan Treasure.

A silver folding-icon made in 1312 by master Lukian, an extremely rare in mediaeval Russian art example of the signed work, is very similar to earlier works of art.

Archaistic features can also be found in such a notable work of jeweller's art of the early 15th century as the gold cover of the ‘Mother of God of Vladimir’ icon. At the same time, the craftsman used the features of his age—three-dimen­sional figures and an extremely high level of chasing technique.

Another interesting example of the 15th century Moscow jewellery is a silver censer from the Nikolo-Pesnoshny Monastery made by order of Prince Yury Vasilievich of Dmitrov. The censer is a rarely encountered work of art in Russia, made with the influence of West European gothic art traditions.