2. From Images of Italy to Early Russian Art

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to work on early icons by the Russian art historian Pavel Muratov (1881–1950), who laid the foundations for their stylistic analysis. Federico Zeri (1921–98) has emphasized the significance of the views of Henri Matisse (1869–1954) on Russian icons, which Matisse encountered when he visited Moscow in 1911. This chapter finds that it was Muratov who continued Matisse’s work in acquainting the Western spectator with the aesthetic of early icons.