МАЭ № 7591-2

Fedor Ivanovich (1557–1598) – Russian Tsar, younger son of Ivan the Terrible, the last representative of the Rurik dynasty and de jure ruler from 1584.

1968

plaster

Fedor Ivanovich (1557–1598) – Russian Tsar, younger son of Ivan the Terrible, the last representative of the Rurik dynasty and de jure ruler from 1584. In his father’s words, a “tacit pietist destined for a cell rather than for imperial power.” Fedor took virtually no part in state affairs, remaining in the custody, first of the Council of Boyars and then of his brother-in-law––the de facto ruler Boris Godunov. Fedor was buried next to his father in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin. In 1963, during the reparation works, his sarcophagus was opened up. Gerasimov’s reconstruction of Fedor’s head is one of his last works (1965). Being Ivan’s antipode in character and intellect, Fedor bore an outward resemblance to his father. Some of his features appear to indicate southern European (Mediterranean) ancestry, possibly owing to the fact that his great-grandmother was the Byzantine princess Zoe (Sophia) Palaiologina.

Anthropological plastic reconstructions, lifetime masks. 19th - 20th centuries