Viktor Nikitich Lazarev (russian: Ви́ктор Ники́тич Ла́зарев; 3 September (22 August O.S.) 1897 – 1 February 1976) was a Russian art critic and historian who specialized in medieval

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, Russian, and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

religious art.Biography
in the

Great Soviet Encyclopaedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

He was the son of Nikita Lazarev, a Moscow architect, and was related by blood to

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

. Viktor studied at the

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

in 1917—1920, and graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology. From 1924 to 1936 he worked as a Chief Curator, head of the art gallery department, and Deputy Director for Research at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. In 1945 he was flown into Berlin to supervise the looting of art treasures from the

Zoo Tower The Zoo flak tower (German: ''Flakturm Tiergarten'', ''Tiergarten Flak Tower'' or commonly referred to as the "Zoo Tower") was a fortified flak tower that existed in Berlin from 1941 to 1947. It was one of several flak towers that protected Berl ...

, including the

Pergamon Altar The Pergamon Altar () was a monumental construction built during the reign of the Ancient Greek King Eumenes II in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the acropolis of Pergamon in Asia Minor. The structure was 35.64 ...

.Giles Milton, Checkpoint in Berlin: The Cold War showdown that shaped the modern world, (New York, Henry Holt, 2021) p. 65 He later taught at the Moscow State University, and since 1961 headed the faculty of History of Foreign Art. The faculty library was named "Lazarev cabinet" in his honour. He is buried at the

Vagankovo Cemetery Vagankovo Cemetery (russian: Ваганьковское кладбище, Vagan'kovskoye kladbishche), established in 1771, is located in the Presnya district of Moscow. It started in the aftermath of the Moscow plague riot of 1771 outside the ci ...

Lazarev was a member of the

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

since 1943. The Art History Institute in Moscow owes its origin to Lazarev's efforts. His ''magnum opus'' is ''The History of Byzantine Painting'', published in 2 volumes in 1947 and 1948. It was translated into Italian in an expanded and revised version as ''Storia della pittura bizantina'' (1967). Lazarev was also known for his many writings on the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

, its beginnings and the evolution of Western portrait painting.

Works

* ''Portrait in European Art of the 17th Century'' (russian: Портрет в европейском искусстве XVII века), 1937 * ''Origins of the

'' (russian: Происхождение итальянского Возрождения), 1956-1959 * '' Andrei Rublev and Rublev's School'' (russian: Андрей Рублёв и его школа), 1966 * ''Old Italian Masters'' (russian: Старые итальянские мастера), 1972 * ''Kievan Rus' Mosaics and Frescoes'' (russian: Древнерусские мозаики и фрески), 1973 * ''Byzantine and Kievan Rus' Art'' (russian: Византийское и древнерусское искусство), 1978

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarev, Viktor 1897 births 1976 deaths Soviet art historians Soviet male writers 20th-century male writers Recipients of the USSR State Prize Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Moscow State University alumni Academic staff of Moscow State University Burials at Vagankovo Cemetery Russian art curators Historians of Byzantine art Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Foreign members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts