The Russian Icon: From Its Origins to the Sixteenth Century by Viktor Nikitich Lazarev

Abstract

The Russian Icon:From Its Origins to the Sixteenth Century. By Viktor Nikitich Lazarev. Edited by G. I. Vzdornov. Translated from the Italian by Colette Joly Dees. English text edited by Nancy McDarby (Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press. 1996. Pp. 402. $99.95.) Viktor Nikitich Lazarev (1897-1976) was a renowned scholar of early Russian, Byzantine, and Western art, whose innovative books and articles are treasured by scholars and artists in many lands and in several academic disciplines. Within the field of Russian studies, Lazarev is much admired for his masterful studies of Byzantine religious painting and his pioneering scholarship on Russian iconography. This volume, a grand presentation of Russian religious painting from the mid-eleventh to the sixteenth century, serves as a magnificent memorial to Lazarev's accomplishments. Those unfamiliar with the Russian icon might well find this work the finest possible introduction to this field. With patience and this book in hand, the inquiring beginner can undertake a brief but intense course of study and smoothly gain sound appreciation of Russian iconography in its historical and cultural context. Lazarev begins with an absorbing introductory chapter concerning the discovery and restoration of early Russian icons; his plain style of exposition enables him to encompass a great array of factual and historical data in a few pages. Most non-specialists will be surprised to learn that aesthetic appreciation of Russian icons dates only to the very late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and that scientific cleaning and restoration of icons became widespread only as late as 1905. The antireligious campaign later mounted by the Soviet state was responsible for greatly encouraging the collection, preservation, and restoration of icons, because of the Soviet policy of restoring confiscated icons and state support of many scholars who served in Soviet state commissions and studios for preserving and renewing treasures of Russian national art. Lazarev then offers interesting general observations on the history of religious art in early Russia. He explains the various historical forces that isolated the Russian North from Byzantine influence, making it easier for the Russians to find their own artistic path in creating a national school of sacred painting. He examines the artistic centers that arose in Novgorod, Pskov, Moscow, and the central Russian principalities, placing in historical context their more important icons and their creators. His explanation always is direct and thoroughly engaging, perhaps the finest short account of this subject now available in English. …