Inscriptions in the Artistic Structure of the Items of Medieval Silversmiths. Works of Church Art from Tikhvin in the State Russian Museum

Abstract

The article presents the results of studying inscribed and dated objects of applied art of the 16th–17th century from the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. The subject of the research is the set of church plates from the monasteries of the Dormition of Our Lady and the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple in Tikhvin and the precious tsata from the Tikhvin icon of the Mother of God (Stockholmskaya) from the Tikhvin Cathedral of the Transfiguration. In 1928, the items were given to the State Russian Museum from the department of ecclesiastical property of the State Museum fund. The majority of these items were made in the Moscow workshops. The study provided an opportunity to identify the items fabricated by Tikhvin silversmiths. The authors analyze the iconography, style, structural and technical features of a number of art works including liturgical vessels, a church lamp and several altar Gospels. The study substantiates new attributions of the chalice and the church lamp from the Cathedral of Dormition of Our Lady. Attention is given to the inscriptions on the items. The authors examine the specifics of the forms of inscriptions and cite new data on the donors such as Ivan Nikitich Romanov, Ivan Ivanovich Shuiskii and the Mikhalkov family.