This painting records an episode from the final years of the rule of Ivan IV, years that were marked by serious failures in both internal and external politics. As the Tsar wanted to demonstrate to the English diplomat Jerome Horsey that his might had not weakened, he took him into the vaults of the Kremlin treasure-house. Alexander Litovchenko’s picture is marked by great authenticity in its creation of the historical setting and by the painstaking and elegant style of painting which transmits tangibly the textures of things, the glitter of jewels and metal and the softness of silk and velvet.

Litovchenko Alexander

Litovchenko, Alexander Dmitrievich
1835, Kremenchug (Poltava Province) – 1890, St Petersburg
Painter; author of historical subjects, portraitist, monumental painter. Studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1855–1863) under Fyodor (Fidelio) Bruni. Awarded two minor and two major silver medals for a drawing and a study (1855, 1857, 1858), minor gold medal (1861) for Charon Carrying the Souls of the Dead. Founding member of the Artistic Society within the Imperial Academy of Arts (1857–1858). Academician (1868) for Falconer. Member and exhibitor of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibition (from 1878).