SHOWCASE 6. MOSCOW GOLDSMITHERY IN THE 16TH CENTURY

The technique of enamelling became highly developed in the 16th century. As a rule, masters used enamel to fill in filigree patterns. There was a preference for elegant greyish-blue shades which combined well with large uncut stones such as dark blue sapphires and pink tourmalines.

Three splendid Panagia with cameos are interesting examples of glyptography. They are carved on three-layered sardonyx and depict John the Baptist, our Lady of the Great Panagia and St John Climacus. The first mentioned Panagia in the mount is two-sided with a container and the list of relics. As the cameo bears the image of St John the Baptist, the patron of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, it could have been intended for the tsar himself. The other two Panagia were stolen in 1918 from the Patriarchal vestry and eventually returned to the Armoury fifty years later without their gold mounts.