Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible
The Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible (Russian: Лицевой летописный свод, romanized: Litsevoy letopisny svod) is the largest compilation of historical information ever assembled in medieval Russia. It covers the period from the creation of the world to the year 1567.[1] It is also informally known as the Tsar Book (Царь-книга), in an analogy with Tsar Bell and Tsar Cannon[2]
The set of manuscripts was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible specifically for his royal library.[1] The literal meaning of the Russian title is "face chronicle," alluding to the numerous hand-painted miniatures. The compilation consists of 10 volumes, containing about 10 thousand sheets of rag paper. It is illustrated with more than 16 thousand miniatures.
Volumes[]
The volumes are grouped in a relatively chronological order and include four major areas: Biblical History, History of Rome, History of Byzantium and Russian history. The titles and contents of the 10 volumes are:
- Museum Miscellany (Музейский сборник, State Historical Museum) – 1031 pages, 1677 miniatures. Sacred Hebrew and Greek history, from the creation of the world to the destruction of Troy in the 13th century BC.
- Chronograph Miscellany (Хронографический сборник, Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences) – 1469 pages, 2549 miniatures. History of the ancient East, the Hellenistic world, and ancient Rome from the 11th century BC to the 70s in the 1st century AD.
- Face Chronograph (Лицевой хронограф, Russian National Library) – 1217 pages, 2191 miniature. History of the ancient Roman Empire from the 70s in the 1st century to 337 AD, and Byzantine history to the 10th century.
- Galitzine Volume (Голицынский том, RNL) – 1035 pages, 1964 miniatures. Russian history from 1114–1247 and 1425-1472.
- Laptev Volume (Лаптевский том, RNL) – 1005 pages, 1951 miniatures. Russian history from 1116-1252.
- Osterman Volume I (Остермановский первый том, LRAS) – 802 pages, 1552 miniatures. Russian history from 1254-1378.
- Osterman Volume II (Остермановский второй том, LRAS) – 887 pages, 1581 miniature. Russian history from 1378-1424.
- Shumilov Volume (Шумиловский том, RNL) – 986 pages, 1893 miniatures. Russian history in 1425, and 1478-1533.
- Synod Volume (Синодальный том, SHM) – 626 pages, 1125 miniatures. Russian history from 1533–1542, and 1553-1567.
- Regal Book (Царственная книга, SHM) – 687 pages, 1291 miniature. Russian history from 1533-1553.
History[]
The manuscript is thought to have been created between 1568 and 1576. The work seems to have been started as early as the 1540s.[3] It was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible for the royal library for the purposes of educating his children.[citation needed] The tsar's confidant Aleksey Adashev was involved in the creation of the work.[3]
Regal book
Page from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible
Battle of the Ice
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Personal Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible". Centralna Narodna biblioteka "Đurde Crnojevic". 12 April 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
- ^ Исторический музей представил Царь-Книгу - Лицевой летописный свод (retrieved May 10, 2015)
- ^ Jump up to: a b Article "Personal Chronicle" in the TSB (in Russian)
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Facial Chronicle. |
- East Slavic chronicles
- Ivan the Terrible
- Medieval Russia
- Illuminated histories