The Carved Triptych of Tsar Fyodor Alexeyevich of the Year 1680 from the State Russian Museum

Abstract

The paper presents the results of studying dated objects of applied art. The subject of the research is the wooden triptych produced during the short reign of tsar Fyodor Alexeyevich (1676–1682). The carved legend of the triptych has been lost. From the inventory description, the lost text included a date in the Julian calendar. The incorrect conversion of the date resulted in it being mistakenly dated “the eighth of November of the year 1681”. A recalculation of the date allowed the authors of the article to clarify its date of completion as November 8th of the year 1680. The article analyses the iconographic program of the triptych including the images of the saints patrons of the tsar Fyodor Alexeyevich, his father Aleksey Mikhailovich and his wife Agaphia Semionovna. The authors also examine the specifics of the carving technique and ornamental design. Two carved triptychs and a carved icon completed by Ukrainian masters from the collections of the Museums of the Moscow Kremlin are used for comparative analysis. In contrast to the objects of the Moscow Museums, the triptych from the State Russian Museum was made from five types of wood (cypress, linden, pine, oak, elm). The specifics of its design and historical circumstances allow the authors to conclude that Ukrainian carvers produced the triptych in the Moscow Armory workshops. Tsar Fyodor Alexeyevich’s marriage served as the reason for the triptych’s creation.