The Royal Art Collection, held in trust by The Queen, has become involved in the cultural boycott of Russia. The collection is withdrawing permission for three swords to be displayed at the Kremlin Museums in Moscow.
The Guardian reports the collection agreed to lend the 17th-century weapons as part of an exhibition centred around duelling. The exhibit is sponsored by the Russian oligarch and former fencer Alisher Usmanov. Usmanov had sanctions imposed upon him by the UK, EU, and US earlier this month because of his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Guardian revealed the collection withdrew permission back in February as more than 100,000 Russian troops gathered at Ukraine’s borders before the invasion on 24 February.
The collection was among just one of a number of European institutions to pull out of the exhibition, forcing it to be postponed. The Duel: from Trial by Combat to a Noble Crime was due to start on 4 March. Kremlin Museums have announced an indefinite delay: “The core of the project consists of exhibits from European museums, which were forced to withdraw them before the time due to the geopolitical situation.”
The swords date from the early 17th century, including one that is said to have belonged to King Charles I. A spokesperson for the Royal Collection Trust said: “A decision to postpone a loan of three swords from the Royal Collection to the Kremlin Museums in Moscow was made in mid-February.”
In an archive press release on the Kremlin Museums website, the Queen and the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds were noted among the notable lenders to the exhibition. Other institutions slated to lend items include the Louvre in Paris, Madrid’s Prado, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
The Royal Armouries museums confirmed it did loan six items to Moscow. Those items included a duelling 17th-century gauntlet, a cavalry helmet, and a breastplate from the civil war. Those items are now on their way back after they were recalled from Russia.
In addition to the items already planned to be lent, the Kremlin Museums requested engraved Henry VIII armour that is on display in the Tower of London. That request was denied.
