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
[edit]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) – 1,031 pages, 1,677 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) – 1,469 pages, 2,549 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) – 1,217 pages, 2,191 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) – 1,035 pages, 1,964 miniatures. Russian history from 1114 to 1247 and 1425–1472.
- Laptev Volume (Лаптевский том, RNL) – 1,005 pages, 1,951 miniatures. Russian history from 1116 to 1252.
- Osterman Volume I (Остермановский первый том, LRAS) – 802 pages, 1,552 miniatures. Russian history from 1254 to 1378.
- Osterman Volume II (Остермановский второй том, LRAS) – 887 pages, 1,581 miniature. Russian history from 1378 to 1424.
- Shumilov Volume (Шумиловский том, RNL) – 986 pages, 1,893 miniatures. Russian history in 1425, and 1478–1533.
- Synod Volume (Синодальный том, SHM) – 626 pages, 1,125 miniatures. Russian history from 1533 to 1542, and 1553–1567.
- Regal Book (Царственная книга, SHM) – 687 pages, 1,291 miniature. Russian history from 1533 to 1553.
History
[edit]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]
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Regal book
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Page from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible
References
[edit]- ^ 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)
- ^ a b Article "Personal Chronicle" in the TSB (in Russian)