Bogatyrev, S. N. Does Size Matter?The Results of the Debate about Ceremonial Headgear

This research was supported by the Core Fellowship Programme of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.

This paper summarises the exchange about the helmet of Ivan the Terrible from the Livrustkammaren (Stockholm) and other Muscovite ceremonial headgear. Ceremonial helmets are multifunctional objects that require a multidisciplinary study. The main source about the early history of ceremonial headgear is the object itself because written sources are usually inventory lists with brief entries deprived of any context. An analysis of the Cap of Monomakh and written and visual sources about it indicates that the Cap was made of parts of two golden helmets, originating apparently from the golden armour of Dmitrii Donskoi. Golden helmets were typical of various cultures, including the court culture of Muslim rulers. Inscriptions on Islamic helmets are of a dynastic nature. Islamic rulers presented helmets as gifts to subordinated Christian princes. The helmet from Stockholm replicates the tradition of Islamic dynastic headgear. The size of the helmet from the Livrustkammaren is consistent with its use as dynastic headgear intended for the heir of the Muscovite throne. Its physical parameters, décor, and condition support the traditional attribution of the helmet. The observations of Swedish scholars about the manufacturing of the helmet for the minor Ivan the Terrible in Moscow remain valid.

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