The collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums contains over 70 tapestries from the 16th-19th centuries made in France and Flanders, England, and Spain as well as Russia, and a variety of items created in the technique of tapestry weaving.

The collection began in the 19th century when the museum's holdings were enriched by items from the collections of Russian Emperors. These were works by the masters of the St. Petersburg Tapestry Manufactory: portraits of Peter the Great (from a painting by A. Matveev) and Alexander I (from a painting by F.-P.-S. Gerard) and the ceremonial portrait of Empress Catherine II (from a painting by F. Rokotov, 1763). Among the French tapestries given at the Imperial command, three (from the "Grotesques on a Yellow Background" series with the Muses of Astronomy, History and Poetry) works by the Beauvais factory were acquired in 1716 for Peter I in Paris - the earliest surviving evidence of such acquisitions for Russian monarchs.

In the 1920s, along with the acquisitions from the palace property, the Armoury received items from the museum fund, which came from private collections.

Nowadays the main part of the Moscow Kremlin Museums tapestry collection is represented by the leading European centres of weaving of the 16th-18th centuries - France and Flanders; some pieces of work were produced in England and Spain. The tapestries in the collection demonstrate the features of tapestry weaving of different epochs and workshops and allow us to trace the development of artistic styles, reflecting preferences, tastes and fashions. For example, France is represented by the works of Parisian workshops of the mid-17th century, tapestries of the Beauvais Manufacture and works of the famous Gobelin Manufacture.

The collection contains various types of tapestries: millefleurs, verdures, crested tapestries, grotesques from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and alentures. In thematic tapestries artists and weavers turned to the Bible, myths, history, and literary works, illustrating the events of the Old and New Testament, epics, fables and novels of chivalry. Stories from the Old Testament include Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and David. Myths and events of ancient history are classic themes in trellis weaving. Alexander the Great, the hero of Roman history Decius Musus, the legendary ancestor of the founders of Rome Aeneas, Jason, the characters from the myths of Perseus, Venus, and Psyche, as well as the Muses and Cupids are all featured in the tapestries. Although they are not masterpieces, the tapestries offer original interpretations of the myths and echo subjects from the famous cartoons by Rubens, Jordaens and J. Buchhorst.

Among the works created at the Imperial Tapestry Manufactory in St Petersburg, founded by French craftsmen invited to Russia at the will of Peter the Great in 1716-1717, the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums includes various types of tapestries, as well as imperial portraits, inserts for fireplace screens, articles of horse drapery and a spectacular floor carpets. The themes of the works in the collection are varied: decorative compositions, historical subjects and coats of arms, and replications of paintings by Russian and Western European masters. The chronological scope of the works covers almost the entire period of the St. Petersburg Tapestry Manufactory's history and makes it possible to trace all stages in the development of tapestry art in Russia.

Tapestries in Moscow and the Moscow area