The Magnificance of the Tzars

Currently showing at the V&A, this exhibition illustrates Russia’s relationship with her past and with Europe through two centuries of men’s court dress.

It is curated and mounted by the Moscow Kremlin Museums. Together with the Armoury Chamber, they form Russia’s oldest national treasury, founded in 1806. Their collections include the dress and regalia worn by the emperors and the Russian court from the 1720s to 1917. This exhibition focuses on men’s dress, particularly the coronation dress of the emperor and other participants in ceremonies at court.

Until the reign of Peter the Great (Peter I, ruled 1682–1725) Russia was isolated from Europe. Peter then introduced many western institutions and practices. His dress reforms replaced traditional Russian clothing with European fashions, or ‘Saxon and French’ fashion as it was called in Russia.

Red wool suit worn by Peter II, 1727-1730