The history of the Archangel’s Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin dates back to the XIV century: in 1333, the first Great Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita (Money-bag) ordered to lay the foundation of a white-stone church devoted to St. Archangel Michael respected in Rus as a guardian of soldiers and Russian princes in their feats of arms. In 1505-1508, a new majestic cathedral was erected on the place of the old church. Venetian architect Aleviz Novy was especially invited by Great Prince to supervise the construction project. Up to the XVIII century, the Archangel’s Cathedral had been a burial place of Moscow Princes and Tsars. The white-stone gravestones of Princes adorned with praying words and epitafhs stand under the cathedral’s vaults in strict order. The tombs of the Ryurikovich dynasty are located endlong the cathedral’s walls. The tombs of the Romanov dynasty are situated near the south-western and north-western pillars. The first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible and two his sons are buried in a special tsar’s shrine set in the altar part of the cathedral.  Among the most respected reliquaries of the Archangel’s Cathedral are the one with the relics of St. Prince Michael Chernigovcky murdered in the Golden Horde in 1254 and the one with the relics of Tsarevich Dmitry, the younger son of Ivan the Terrible. The remnants of Saints had never been covered with sod but placed in special reliquaries set up for belivers’ worship. The reliquary of Tsarevich Dmitry is placed at the south-western pillar under the stone carved marquee. The cathedral was first adorned with wall-painting in the reign of Ivan the Terrible. The ancient murals have not survived except small fragments on pillars and several compositions of the altar and the tsars’ shrine. In 1652-1666, the cathedral was painted anew by a big team of Russian masters. The works were supervised by famous tsar’s isograf (icon-painter) Simon Ushakov. The program of the new wall-painting had the same idea of the one of Ivan the Terrible’s times. One of the main themes was the glorification of the Great Princes’ and Tsars’ power through the images of Saint Russian Princes. Among the Saints, painted on the cathedral’s pillars, there are Princess Olga, Great Prince Vladimir who had set up the Orthodoxy in Ancient Rus in 988, his martyred sons Boris and Gleb, Princes Alexander Bogolyubsky, Alexander Nevsky, Daniyl Moskovsky and others. The particular point of the cathedral’s wall-painting is the circle of tombstone portraits: the ideational portraits of Princes from the Ryurikovich dynasty are painted over their tombs in the lower tier. The “portrait” gallery of historical persons is opened with the image of Moscow Great Prince Ivan Kalita and ended with the image of George Vasilyevich, the younger brother of Ivan the Terrible.
The cathedral’s iconostasis crowned with the scene of Crucifixion was created in the reign of Tsar Feodor Alekseevich Romanov in 1679-1681.
All the icons were painted by masters of the Tsar’s Armoury Chamber. Only several ancient icons in the lower local row there have been saved. To the right of the King’s Gate there is the cathedral’s icon “Archangel Michael in gests”. According to a legend, the icon was painted on the order of nun Eudokia, the widow of Great Prince Dmitry Donskoi, to the memory of Great Prince and his victory in the Battle on the Kulikovo Field. The Archangel’s Cathedral, built in 1505-1508 by Italian architect Aleviz Novy, is the most original monument forming the ensemble of Cathedral Square. Aleviz Novy managed to combine in the cathedral’s architecture either features of Old-Russian or innovative Venetian Renaissance architectural features. It is a large cross-and-cupola cathedral crowned with traditional Russian five domes. The walls of the cathedral  are divided in sections following the order pattern, which is typical for architecture of the Renaissance.  The cornice divides the facades into two horizontal rows, whereas pilasters with carved capitals divide them vertically. The cathedral’s outlook combines severity of order divisions and plenteousness of decorative details.  The zakomaras are filled with huge carved conches. The northern and the western entrances are decorated with carved white-stone portals. Originally, the cathedral was not completely whited as nowadays. Red colour of its brick walls combining with white-stone architectural details made the cathedral look bright and ornate. The Archangel’s Cathedral was first adorned with murals in the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1564-1565. In the early XVIIth century, during the Polish-Swedish invasion, the murals of the cathedral was damaged badly.  It was decided to restore it. The work was in progress from 1652 to 1666. According to the order of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, the new wall-painting was to be like the ancient one. Before the beginning of the work, Stepan Rezanets, maker of the Armoury Chamber, with his assistants made descriptions of depictions that survived in the cathedral, marking their locations. The Tsar’s decision gives evidence to the point that the program of the murals were urgent in the reign of Romanovs. 
The new murals were created by a big team of makers from various Russian towns – Yaroslavl, Rostov, Kostroma, Vologda etc. The team was headed by Simon Ushakov, illustrious royal painter. Together with Simon Ushakov there worked such talented makers as Fyodor Zubov, Sidor Pospeev, Yakov Kazanets, Iosif Vladimirov and others. They brought to ancient compositional schemes refined drawing, complicated architectural framing of compositions, bright and festive intensive blue, cherry, yellow, white, pink and pistachio colours.
The idea of “political theology” of the time of Ivan the Terrible is closely interwoven with the themes of death and confession. The “Epigraph” of the whole wall-painting are frescoes of the loggia over the entrance to the cathedral illustrating the annalistic story about the selection of Christian faith by Prince Vladimir. In the altar part sounds the theme of  the triumph of Russian National Church.  Here is the composition of Sophia Wisdom of God surrounded by multitudinous images of Russian Church hierarchs. 
 In the central dome there is composition "Jahveh". The western wall and a part of vaults are covered with a series of compositions dedicated to the Symbol of Faith (short summary of main doctrines of the Christian faith). It continues the theme of the selection of faith, started in the loggia, and is a reminiscence to the idea of protection of the faith as a duty of principal and royal power. A part of the Symbol of Faith circle is “the Judgment Day” composition covering a part of the western wall. On the northern and southern walls of the cathedral there are compositions telling miracles of Archangel Michael, the highest angel and guide to the world of God’s Will. In Russia he was traditionally worshipped as Great Princes’ patron and angel to guide souls of the dead to the throne of God. The theme of glorification of the royal power is accompanied by depictions of saint princes – royal relatives and saint warriors, their protectors.  Among them are Vladimir and Olga, Boris and Gleb, Peter and Fevronia of Murom, Prince Michael of Chernigov and his Boyar Fyodor.
Unique feature of the Archangel’s Cathedral’s murals is series of tombstone portraits of princes of Moscow dynasty. They are located right over princes’ burial places. The burial place of Tsar Ivan the Terrible is adorned with frescoes as well.
Frescoes of the Archangel’s Cathedral were often replaced with new layers of oil painting. In 1950-s, they were open from under multitudinous layers by a team of artists of Palekh.   In 1978-80, murals were strengthened  and  some new sections were opened. The iconostasis of the Archangel’s Cathedral consists of four tiers – local, festive, deisis and prophets. The monumental construction is topped with the Crucifixion with Worshipping Our Lady and John the Theologian. All the icons of the iconostasis, escept two icons of the local row – “The Annunciation of Ustyug” and “Archangel Michael in deeds” – were created by royal painters (“isografs”) in 1679-1681. The documents say, there worked such eminent makers as Michael Milyutin and Fyodor Zubov, who worked in quite a  new artistic manner. All the prophets are depicted standing and holding open scrolls with prophetic words. The central image of the row is the monumental icon of Our Lady sitting an a throne with the Child on her lap.  The deisis row belongs to the type of Apostle deisis rows, i.e. includes both the traditional  five-figured key (Saviour Almighty, Our Lady, John the Precursor, Archangel Michael, Archangel Gabriel) and icons of twelve Apostles (six from each side).  Traditional images of Christ and our Lady in the local tier to the right and to the left from the King’s gate are “Our Lady the Favoured Heaven” and “saviour the Great Pontiff”.
The church icon of Archangel Michael in deeds is the most ancient one. It was painted c. 1399 and adorned the iconostasis of the ancient Archangel’s Church.
The icon of the Annunciation of Ustyug is a copy of the illustrious icon of the XIIth century, executed in the XVIth century on the order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
The wooden frame of the iconostasis was also executed in the reign of Theodore Alexeevich by a team of carvers following the best traditions of the Moscow Baroque style.
Smooth wooden shapes of the pillars of the tree upper tiers combine with exuberant carving of the central part of the iconostasis and its local tier. Here the  twisted columns are adorned with ornamental grapes, bunches of fruits and leaves.
Initially, the iconostasis was painted different colours, both gilded and silvered. Total gilding was executed in the mid XIXth century.