"Monomakh Throne" - the royal place ( throne ) in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin .
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| Moscow | ||
| Monomakhs throne . 1551 year | ||
| Wood, gesso, gold satin, carving, tempera, gilding, silvering | ||
| Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin , Moscow | ||
Content
History
The legend tells of the war of Vladimir Monomakh with Byzantium , as a result of which the emperor allegedly sent to Russia many dignitaries and the metropolitan with the throne (the Tsar’s place), regalia and utensils. The ambassadors, having arrived at the Grand Duke about 1116, presented him gifts, and the Metropolitan crowned him with the kingdom. The legend of the times of the Russian Empire stated that the throne in the Assumption Cathedral is precisely the throne on which Monomakh sat during this wedding. Patriarch Joasaph of Constantinople in 1561 confirmed in writing the wedding of Vladimir. Karamzin says that the embassy was not only from Konstantin Monomakh , but from Alexei Komnin [1] .
Today it is confirmed by documents that Tsar Ivan the Terrible established a royal place ( throne ) in the Assumption Cathedral in 1551 . It was located under the tent canopy. The patterned roof (canopy) stood on four pillars . Pillars of canopy stood on the figures of four animals: a lion (a fierce, a skiment) , a yen (a furrow beast, without a neck wrap - that is, a hyena ) and the other two were called scroogans [2] . They were supposed to denote the mysterious meaning of the throne itself, and especially the meaning of royal dignity and dignity . Next to the royal place was an icon, commissioned by the king, “ Blessed be the host of the Heavenly King ”.
In the Time of Troubles , possibly in 1611, the royal place was dismantled. I.E. Zabelin suggests that by order of the Boyar Duma . Under the Romanovs, the Tsar’s place was restored.
Description
The throne that has survived is made of walnut and lime tree; above it, a slotted canopy (tent), supported by four skillfully machined pillars, it was overshadowed by a two-headed eagle . The tent is supported by four carved columns, and instead of the base it has four lions, also carved from wood (in ancient cathedral records, they are mistakenly called stone). The royal place had curtains, which were pulled in when the king re-dressed in the cathedral.
The throne, or royal place, of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin (drawing by F. G. Solntsev )
Copy of Monomakhov’s throne in the exposition of the Historical Museum, 19th century
The original of the panel. Current state (Moscow Kremlin Museums)
The frieze connecting the canopy is covered on all four sides by inscriptions extracted from the Holy Scriptures. At the entrance to the royal place, on the eastern side, hinged doors are made. Two inscriptions are carved on each door in circles, embodying the story of the war of Vladimir Monomakh with the Greeks.
The columns of the throne are placed on three panels, on each of which four bas-reliefs are carved, totaling 12 bas-reliefs that illustrate the plots of the famous monument of ancient Russian literature “ Tales of the Princes of Vladimir ”, telling about the arrival of royal regalia to Russia - Monomakh hats, barm (full mantle) ) and other items.
| Upper left relief | Top right relief | Lower left relief | Lower right relief |
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| No. 1. Council of Vladimir Monomakh “With their Princes”, on which he talks about courage tribal ancestors from Constantinople . | No. 2. Grand Duke Vladimir collects "skilled" governor and appoints superiors to the army . | No. 3. The troops of the Grand Duke Vladimir move in Thrace. | Number 4. Governor of the Thracian cities. |
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| No. 5. Governors of the Grand Duke captured the Thracians. | No. 6. Troops are returning "With a lot of wealth." | No. 7. Troops of Constantine Monomakh fight enemies - "from Persia and with Latin." | No. 8. Konstantin Monomakh convenes a council and appoints ambassadors to Kiev. |
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| No. 9. Konstantin Monomakh “Gives honest gifts” - royal regalia - for transfers to Prince Vladimir. | No. 10. Ambassadors on the ship hit the road. | No. 11. Messengers from Constantinople arrive in Kiev to the great Prince Vladimir and bring “Honest and otherwise many gifts and ask him for peace. ” | No. 12. Metropolitan Neophyte, arrived from Constantinople, crowns the grand duke Vladimir Vsevolodovich royal crown - Monomakh hat . |
According to researchers, the mentor of young Ivan IV, an outstanding figure in the 16th-century Russian church, now glorified as a saint, Moscow Metropolitan Makarii , took part in the development of the concept of the throne. The throne was made in Russia [1] , obviously, by the palace masters [3] .
A copy of the late 19th century is in the Historical Museum. It was made specifically for the Historical Museum and is interesting in that it is a reconstruction of the unique monument in its original form with the restoration of the original details of the decor, gilding and polychrome painting.
Value
B. A. Uspensky, a researcher of the sacred space of Moscow Russia , wrote: “In this case, the“ royal place ”in the middle of the church where the wedding takes place correlates with the“ royal doors ”leading to the altar , before which the anointing takes place; it should be noted at the same time that the name "royal doors" in this period - in contrast to the earlier period - refers to Christ as the King of glory. Thus, two kings - heavenly and earthly - are as if spatially opposed in the temple; in other words, they are in spatial distribution. It is no coincidence that since the time of John IV, the “royal place” in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow has been called the “throne” - the throne of the king of the earth, located in the middle of the temple, obviously correlates, again, with the throne of the king of heaven, which is in the altar ” [4] .
Every Sunday, Russian tsars stood there, listening to the service. The king’s presence in the “royal” place and the metropolitan (later the patriarch) at the altar served as the image of a “symphony of authorities” and a “sacred hollow” [5] . After the capital was transferred to St. Petersburg, the anointing to the kingdom was still performed at this place. An attack on him was tantamount to desecrating the altar [5] .
Zabelin writes about the Easter service:
The rite of the tsarist vision ended with the sovereign leaving for matins, always at the Assumption Cathedral. The emperor himself and all the ranks until the last at that time were in golden robes. Those who did not have such clothes were not allowed into the cathedral. During the matins, after praising the sticher, the sovereign, as usual, applied to the gospel and images and “did kissing by mouth” with the patriarch and the highest spiritual authorities, and he bestowed the others to his hand, and he also granted red eggs to both. The boyars and all the ranks that were in the cathedral also applied to the shrine, approached the patriarch, kissed his hand and received either gilded or red eggs: the highest - three, the middle - two each, and the youngest - one egg each. Having mocked with the clergy, the emperor marched to his royal place at the southern door of the cathedral, where he bestowed hand and distributed eggs to the boyars and all ranks to the last. The emperor handed out goose, chicken and wooden chiseled eggs, three, two and one at a time, depending on the nobility of their faces. These eggs were painted in gold with bright colors in a pattern, or colored herbs, "and in the grasses are birds and animals, and people" [6] .
In preparation for the coronation of Catherine I in 1724, Peter the Great was proposed to remove the throne from the Monomakh Cathedral. He replied, " I consider this place more precious than gold for its antiquity, and because all the sovereign ancestors, the Russian Sovereigns, stood on it ." [7] The throne was left, the doors were removed from it (they were later returned to its place), inside it was overlaid with golden brocade, and the top was decorated with golden fringe.
Prior to the coronation of Nicholas II , during the restoration work of the Assumption Cathedral, work was carried out to clean the bas-reliefs of the Monomakhov’s throne from old layers of varnish, which was reflected in a specially published report of the Coronation Commission. [eight]
In modern history
In 1992, Vice President Alexander Rutskoi brought young G. M. Hohenzollern-Romanov to the Assumption Cathedral and tried to lead him to the Tsar’s place. An elderly museum servant opposed this, and he told her: “This is our future Tsar” , to which she replied: “When it will be, let it go,” so that the applicant could not sit in the Tsar’s place [5] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Royal place // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- ↑ Zabelin I.E. “The household life of Russian tsars in the 16th and 17th centuries”. M. , 1990, p. 239
- ↑ Antiquities of the Russian state, published at the Highest command of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas I Date of treatment December 13, 2018. Archived on April 12, 2016.
- ↑ B.A. Uspensky. “The Tsar and the Patriarch. Charisma of power in Russia. " M., 1998, p. 22
- ↑ 1 2 3 V. Karpets. Royal place
- ↑ I.E. Zabelin. How did the Russian tsar sovereigns live in antiquity?
- ↑ Snegirev I.M. Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. - M: Type. A. Semen, 1856. - S. 25.
- ↑ Dorofeev V.P. Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. A collection of phototypic photographs published on the occasion of the renewal of the Assumption Cathedral. - M, 1896 .-- S. 16.
Literature
- I. M. Sokolov , Throne of Ivan the Terrible in the Assumption Cathedral. M .: “Kuchkovo Field”, 2006. ISBN 5-88678-112-9