Alexei Mikhailovich Lidov ( Russian: Алексей́ Михай́лович Ли́дов; March 9, 1959 – May 29, 2025) was a Russian

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and

Byzantinist Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination ...

, an author of the concepts '' hierotopy'' and '' spatial icon'', as well as a member of the

Russian Academy of Arts Russian Academy of Arts (RAA / rus. РАХ, Росси́йская акаде́мия худо́жеств) is the State scientific Institution of Russian Federation, eligible heir to the USSR Academy of Arts. A founder of RAA is the Governmen ...

Life and career

Lidov was born in Moscow on March 9, 1959. His father, Mikhail Lidov, was a Russian space scientist; his mother, Diana, a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. Upon graduation from the department of

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

of the

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

in 1981, his first appointment was at the

State Museum of Oriental Art The State Museum of Oriental Art () is one of the biggest cultural institutions in the world for preservation, research, and display of Oriental art. The museum was founded in 1918 as a part of soviet programme to support unique cultures of USSR ...

in Moscow. He earned a PhD in art history from Moscow State University in 1989. In 1991, he founded the Research Center for the Eastern Christian Culture, an independent non-governmental organization, and has worked as its director. In 2008—2009 he served as the vice-president of the Russian Academy of Art. Since 2010 he works at the Institute of World Culture at

as director of the Department of Ancient Culture. Lidov had lectured at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

, Columbia,

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Sorbonne universities et al. He initiated several research programs and organized nine international symposia on iconographical and hierotopical subjects. Lidov died on May 29, 2025, at the age of 66.

Research

During his studies at the

University of Moscow Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

Lidov specialized in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

. While working as a researcher at the State Museum of Oriental Art, he studied the Christian art of

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Building upon the material of his PhD thesis, he published in 1991 his first book about the

mural painting A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s of the

Akhtala monastery Akhtala (), also known as Pghindzavank (, meaning ''Coppermine Monastery'') is a 10th-century Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Apostolic monastery located in the town of Akhtala in the Administrative divisions of Armenia, marz of Lori Provin ...

in Armenia. In this book he characterized the art of

chalcedonian Chalcedonian Christianity is the branches of Christianity that accept and uphold theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, held in AD 451. Chalcedonian Christianity accepts the Christological Definitio ...

Armenians as a separate iconographic tradition, which combined Byzantine, Georgian and Armenian elements. Drawing upon the seminal works of A. Grabar, H.Belting
H. Maguire
and Chr. Walter, Lidov developed a method of ''interpretational iconography'', which he put into practice in his study of

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

themes in the

Byzantine art Byzantine art comprises the body of artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome, decline of western Rome and ...

and of the symbolism of

Heavenly Jerusalem In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem (, ''YHWH šāmmā'', YHWH sthere") is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the capital of the Mess ...

. Lidov has shown that new theological ideas, formulated in the wake of the

Great Schism of 1054 Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, engendered a new kind of Byzantine church iconography with the dominant themes of Christ the Priest and the

Communion of the Apostles The Last Supper of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles has been a popular subject in Christian art, often as part of a cycle showing the '' Life of Christ''. Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art date back to early Christianity and can be see ...

. After his trip to the

Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...

in 1996, Lidov published a book-album with the description of its unique collection of icons. Later, Lidov turned to the study of miracle-working

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s and

Christian relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

, which was quite a new subject in art history. In 2000 he initiated a program of research and cultural activities “Christian relics”, which included, in particular, two exhibitions and an international conference. During this period Lidov wrote several papers on the Hodegetria of Constantinople and the Holy Mandylion. While studying the role of miraculous icons and relics in the formation of sacred spaces in the Eastern Christian tradition, Lidov has formulated a new concept of '' hierotopy''. The term ''hierotopy'' has two meanings. It is the creation of sacred spaces as a special form of human creativity and also a related academic field, which spans

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, and

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

.A. Lidov. Hierotopy. Spatial Icons and Image-Paradigms in Byzantine Culture. Moscow, 2009 Hierotopy accounts not only for artistic images and the symbolic world they form, but also for the entire collection of various media that serve to organize a sacred space into a ''spatial icon''. The perception of sacred spaces has been analyzed by Lidov in terms of ''image-paradigms'',A. Lidov. Image-Paradigms as a Notion of Mediterranean Visual Culture: a Hierotopic Approach to Art History. Crossing Cultures. Papers of the International Congress of Art History. CIHA 2008. Melbourne, 2009, pp.177–183 which reflect the experience of a sacred space in its wholeness and are distinct from any illustrative pictures.

Awards and honors

– corresponding member since 2007, full member since 2012 * Gold medal of the

for the book. *

Distinguished visiting professor Professors in the United States commonly occupy any of several positions of teaching and research within a college or university. In the U.S., the word "professor" is often used to refer to anyone who teaches at a college of university level at ...

of the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

, 2011 * The Medal of Merit of the

, 2014 * The Order for Merits to Arts conferred by the

, 2014 * The

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

, 2016 * Christensen Fellow at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, 2017

References

Books (author)

* The Mural Paintings of Akhtala. Moscow, 1991 * Byzantine Icons of Sinai. Moscow-Athens, 1999 * The Holy Face in Russian Icons. Moscow, 2005 (with L. Evseeva and N. Chugreeva) * Hierotopy. Spatial Icons and Image-paradigms in Byzantine Culture. Moscow, 2010 * The Icon. The World of the Holy Images in Byzantium and the Medieval Russia. Moscow: Theoria, 2013 * The Wall Paintings of Akhtala Monastery. History, Iconography, Masters. Moscow: Dmitry Pozharsky University, 2014

Books (editor)

* Jerusalem in the Russian culture. Moscow, 1994 * Eastern Christian Churches. Liturgy and art. Moscow, 1994 * Miracle-working icons in Byzantium and old Russia, 1996 * The Miraculos image. Icons of Our Lady in the Tretyakov gallery. Moscow, 1999 * Christian relics in the Moscow Kremlin. Moscow, 2000 * Iconostasis: origins, evolution, symbolism. Moscow, 2000 * Eastern Christian relics. Moscow, 2003 * Relics in Byzantium and Medieval Russia. Written sources. Moscow, 2006 * Hierotopy. Creation of sacred spaces in Byzantium and Medieval Russia. Moscow, 2006 * Spatial icons. Textual and performative. Materials of the international symposium. Moscow, 2009 * Hierotopy. Comparative studies of sacred spaces. Moscow, 2009 * New Jerusalems. Hierotopy and iconography of sacred spaces. Moscow, 2009 * Spatial icons. Performativity in Byzantium and Medieval Russia. Moscow, 2011 * Hierotopy of Light and Fire in the Culture of the Byzantine World. Moscow, 2013 * The Life-Giving Source. Water in the hierotopy and iconography of the Christian world. Materials of the international symposium. Moscow, 2014. * Holy water in the hierotopy and iconography of the Christian World. Moscow, 2017 * Air and heavens in the hierotopy and iconography of the Christian world. Materials of the international symposium. Moscow, 2019. * The hierotopy of holy mountains in Christian culture. Moscow, 2019

Books dedicated to Lidov's 60th anniversary

* Space of the icon. Iconography and hierotopy. Moscow, 2019 (eds. M. Bacci, J. Bogdanovich) * Icons of space. Advances in hierotopy. London&NY, 2021 (ed. J. Bogdanovich)

Selected publications

* L’Image du Christ-prelat dans le programme iconographique de Sainte Sophia d’Ohride. In: Arte Cristiana, fasc. 745. Milano, 1991, p. 245–250 * L’art des Armeniens Chalcedoniens Atti del Quinto Simposio Internazionale di Arte Armena 1988, Venezia 1992, pp. 479–495 * Christ the Priest in Byzantine Church Decoration of the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. Selected papers of the 18th International Congress of Byzantine Studies. Moscow, 1991. Vol.III: Art History, Architecture, Music. Shepherdstown, WV, 1996, pp. 158–170 * Byzantine Church Decoration and the Schism of 1054. Byzantion, LXVIII/2 (1998), pp. 381–405. * Heavenly Jerusalem: the Byzantine Approach. In: «The Real and Ideal Jerusalem in Art of Judaism, Christianity and Islam». Jerusalem, 1998, pp. 341–353 * Byzantine Church Decoration and the Schism of 1054. Byzantion, LXVIII/2 (1998), pp. 381–405 * Miracle-Working Icons of the Mother of God. In: «Mother of God. Representation of the Virgin in Byzantine Art». Athens, ‘Skira’, 2000, pp. 47–57 * The Miracle of Reproduction. The Mandylion and Keramion as a paradigm of sacred space. In: «L’Immagine di Cristo dall. Acheropiita dalla mano d’artista» Editors C. Frommel and G. Wolf. Citta del Vaticano. Rome, 2006 * The Flying Hodegetria. The Miraculous Icon as Bearer of Sacred Space. In: «The Miraculous Image in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance». Editors E. Thuno, G. Wolf. Rome, 2004 * Leo the Wise and the Miraculous Icons in Hagia Sophia. In: «The Heroes of the Orthodox Church. The New Saints, 8th to 16th century». Editor E. Kountura-Galaki. Athens, 2004 * The Canopy over the Holy Sepulchre: On the Origins of Onion-Shaped Domes. In: «Jerusalem in Russian Culture». New York, 2005 * «Il Dio russo». Culto e iconografia di San Nikola nell’antica Russia. In: «San Nicola. Splendori d’arte d’Oriente e d’Occidente». Editor M. Bacci. Milano, 2006 * The Mandylion over the Gate. A mental pilgrimage to the holy city of Edessa. In: "Routes of Faith in the Medieval Mediterranean. Thessaloniki, 2008, pp.179–192. * 'Image-Paradigms' as a Notion of Mediterranean Visual Culture: a Hierotopic Approach to Art History. In: «Crossing Cultures. Papers of the International Congress of Art History». CIHA 2008. Melbourne, 2009, pp. 177–183 * A Byzantine Jerusalem.The Imperial Pharos Chapel as the Holy Sepulchre In: Jerusalem as Narrative Space, ed. Annette Hoffmann and Gerhard Wolf, Leiden, Boston: Koninklijke Brill, 2012, pp. 63–104. * The Temple Veil as a Spatial Icon. Revealing an Image-Paradigm of Medieval Iconography and Hierotopy. IKON, 2014, 7, pp. 97–108.

External links

Lidov on the site of the Russian Academy of Art
(in Russian)

(in Russian)

Preservation of the Orthodox cultural heritage in Kosovo, report to the UNESCO

Lidov's interview to a Russian newspaper related to the problem of the restitution of the church property
(in Russian)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lidov, Alexei 1959 births 2025 deaths Russian art historians Russian Byzantinists Russian medievalists Full Members of the Russian Academy of Arts Writers from Moscow 20th-century Russian historians 21st-century Russian historians Historians of Byzantine art