The exhibition “State Regalia in Fedor Solntsev's Drawings from Collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums” has kicked off at the Russian Spiritual and Cultural Center in Paris. It includes more than two dozen works by a famous 19th-century Russian painter, archaeologist, restorer, and academician of historical painting. Art works by Fedor Solntsev are referred to as “the picturesque chronicle of Old Russia”.
As Yekaterina Medvedeva, head of the lecture department of the Moscow Kremlin Museums (MKM), noted at the opening ceremony, “the exhibition presents some of the drawings of state regalia kept in the Armory Chamber”. According to her, 1400 watercolors and illustrations created by Fedor Solntsev (1801-1892) are currently harboured in the museum's funds.
Witnesses of the Most Important Events
According to Yekaterina Medvedeva, “it is very symbolic that the Moscow Kremlin Museums and the Russian Spiritual and Cultural Center begin their cooperation with demonstrations of drawings of princely, royal, and imperial regalia that are the symbols of power”.

“These treasures were part and parcel of regale ceremonies and witnessed the most important events in the life of the Russian state”, Yekaterina Medvedeva emphasized. “These are genuine masterpieces of jewelry art by Russian and foreign masters”, - she added.

Visitors will see the pictures of Monomakh's Cap, which participated in the Russian enthronement ceremonies for two centuries, the ceremonial bone throne supposedly intended for Ivan 4^th the Terrible, the power used in the crowning of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the first of the Romanovs dynasty. In addition, the exhibition includes drawings depicting the crown of Empress Anna Ioannovna and the state shield of Elizabeth Petrovna.
In addition, visitors will see drawings of the double throne of the brothers-co-rulers Ivan and Peter Alekseevich - the most unusual royal seat in the collection of the Armory Chamber. It took more than 200 kg of silver to make the throne.

New Page in Collaboration of Russia and France
Medvedev noted that “the most fruitful period of Fedor Solntsev’s creativity was related to the Moscow Kremlin”. “In the 1830s and 1840s, he created a very vivid series of works titled “Russian Antiquities” and consisting of three thousand paintings and watercolors, some of them included in the publication entitled “The Antiquities of the Russian State”, which became a real rarity even during the life of the artist”- the head of the lecture department of MKM said.

According to Medvedev, “this exhibition opens a new page in the cultural cooperation between Russia and France”. “We hope that the exposition will be of interest to our compatriots living in France and striving not to lose their cultural ties with the Motherland and the French, who are interested in Russian history and culture”, she said with regards from the MKM director Elena Gagarina.

Interactive Exhibition
In his turn, Russian Ambassador to France, Alexander Orlov said that “the exhibition is timed to the Days of Cultural Heritage, which are held in all European countries for many years”. “The year 2017 has become special for us, because the Russian Spiritual and Cultural Center is taking part in these days for the first time”, - the ambassador noted.
He recalled that “Fedor Solntsev’s drawings once made a great impression on Emperor Nicholas I, who granted about 100 thousand rubles in silver for them - an amount colossal for those times.
According to Alexander Orlov, this exhibition is “an interactive innovative project”. Arriving at the center on the left bank of the Seine, every visitor will receive a catalog and an electronic guide, to help learn not only about the exhibits, but also plunge into Russian history, the ambassador concluded.