Sculptured lid for the shrine of Tsarevich Dmitry Russia, Moscow, 1628-1630, 1989 (photo)

Sculptured lid for the shrine of Tsarevich Dmitry Russia, Moscow, 1628-1630. Dmitrii Coffin Cover in collection of Kremlin Armoury museum. Dmitrii's tomb cover was not made until 1630, probably on the order of Mikhail Romanov. Romanov may have done this to commemorate the Riurik Dynasty and to emphasize succession of Romanovs to Riuriks. Dmitrii's body was moved from Uglich to the Archangel Cathedral in 1606. On the death of Ivan IV, the Terrible, the Riurik Dynasty ended. The only legitimate claimant to the throne was Ivan's 5th wifes child, Dmitrii, who was murdered in 1591, at the age of eight, in Uglich where he and his mother were in exile. The murder may have been ordered by Boris Godunov, a Tarter, who was liked by Ivan IV and had married the daughter of the head of the secret police. Godunov had to remove all legitimate claimants to the throne in order to become tzar. Decorating the Dmitrii coffin cover is a full length portrait of Tsarevich Dmitrii that was made in the workshops of the Moscow Kremlin in 1630, by Gavrila Ovdokimov and four coworkers, silver gilt in repousse, jewels, 157x70cm, Inv. # MR 9989. Gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, glass, wood, fabric, embossing, gilding, casting, chiselling, enamel. The bottom of the coffin cover disappeared in 1812, during the Napoleonic Occupation. Photo by Cary Sol Wolinsky