The relief of the frieze over the Red Porch entrance portal of the Faceted Chamber in the Moscow Kremlin, being the oldest monument of its kind on a secular stone building in Moscow, has been undeservedly ignored by art historians. The only interpretation of the bas-relief found in the scholarly literature is the one based on the 19th century descriptions of the bas-relief identifying it with the Lithuanian coat of arms so-called Pogonya. The article presents for the first time the interpretation of the central image of the bas-relief as Alexander the Great. This interpretation seems justified considering the symbolism of the figures of the leopard and the winged serpent surrounding the horseman and their attributes. It takes into account the cultural and historical context of the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries and reflects the emerging claims of Ivan III to the legitimate succession of power from Alexander the Great within the metaphysical theory of the transfer of world kingdoms.
- ORCID: 0009-0009-9816-4145
Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (ISS RAS), Russian Federation - ORCID: 0000-0002-8385-3599
Chapter Title
Новый язык легитимации власти: рельеф входного портала Грановитой палаты Московского Кремля
Authors
Oleg Verner, Inna Verner
Language
Russian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0893-2.11
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
In dialogo con l'Occidente: Rinascimento e renovatio nella Russia del Cinquecento / В диалоге с Западом: возрождение и религиозное обновление в России XVI века
Editors
Marcello Garzaniti, Ovanes Akopyan, Iris Karafillidis, Francesca Romoli
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
240
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0893-2
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0916-8
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0893-2
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0894-9
Series Title
Europe in between. Histories, cultures and languages from Central Europe to the Eurasian Steppes
Series ISSN
2975-0318
Series E-ISSN
2975-0326