On the Palaeographic Dating of Two Reliquaries from the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

This article is devoted to the palaeographic dating of two precious medallions-reliquaries originating from the sacristy of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. One of them (made of silver) is decorated with the image of the Savior, surrounded by the apostles on the front side and, on the back, by the Virgin surrounded by prophets. On the front side of the second reliquary (made of gold) is a depiction of the Nativity and, on the back, part of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, i.e., St. Simeon the God-receiver with the infant Christ in his arms and surrounded by saints. Until recently, there had been no palaeographic dating for these monuments. In terms of style, they had been dated by historians of art to the last third of the 15th century and, primarily due to their rounded shape, they had been connected with the second wife of Grand Prince Ivan III, Sophia Palaeologos (despite the fact that neither work portrays the patrons). By examining the labels, which combine a number of archaic styles dating back to the end of the 14th century and include innovations of the “younger” Russian poluustav, one can attribute the medallions to the first quarter or first third of the 15th century, i.e., the time of Andrei Rublev