Muscovy and the tsardom
When Moscow threw off the Mongols, the Kremlin was rebuilt by Italian architects, and St Basil's Cathedral rose on Red Square. Icon painting became richer, lighter and increasingly detailed.
In 1480 the tribute to the Golden Horde came to an end, and Ivan III was able to build Moscow into the capital of a growing realm. He had Italian architects rebuild the Kremlin: Aristotele Fioravanti designed the Dormition Cathedral, and the Kremlin's brick walls and towers took on features of northern Italian castle architecture.
Ivan IV, the first to be crowned tsar, in 1547, had St Basil's Cathedral built on Red Square to commemorate the conquest of Kazan. With its colourful onion domes and tower-like chapels, it became a symbol of Russia. In icon painting, Dionisy carried on Rublev's legacy with light, slender figures.
In the 17th century art became more narrative and decorative. The Stroganov school painted small, jewel-like icons for wealthy merchants, and Simon Ushakov, the tsar's court painter, began to adopt features of Western painting: modelling, light and shade. At the same time the first portraits, the parsuna, emerged from the icon tradition.