An exhibition of Fyodor Solntsev, a distinctive Russian artist of the XIX century, has opened in the Rose Hall of the Russian State Library, Moscow.
      His watercolors became the basis for the monumental edition of the "Antiquities of the Russian State".
      In 1844, Emperor Nicholas I ordered to establish the Special Committee for the Publication of Russian Antiquities. Fyodor Solntsev sketched a variety of items, stored in the Armoury Chamber and cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin. First of all, attention was paid to the signs of royal power, such as the Cap of Monomakh, crowns, scepters, powers, and barmas. Other attributes and objects representing the power of the sovereign and the patriarch were also painted – ecclesiastical and secular vestments, weapons and armor, thrones, carriages, etc. In total, the artist created about 7,000 watercolors.
      From 1846 to 1853, six volumes of "Antiquities of the Russian State" were published with a circulation of 600 copies. The advanced method of chromolithography printing made it possible to exactly convey color nuances and the smallest details. The selected pages of this unique publication can be seen at the exhibition in the Russian State Library.
      Admission is by RSL reader's ticket and by appointment.
      Where: RUSSIAN STATE LIBRARY at the address 3/5, Vozdvizhenka Street, next to metro stations Borovitskaya, Arbatskaya, and Lenin Library, Moscow.
      When: FROM JANUARY 15 TO FEBRUARY 27, 2021.