Lydia Aleksandrovna Durnovo (Russian: Лидия Александровна Дурново; 1885 – 1963) was a Soviet Russian art historian and art restorer.[2] She specialized in medieval art, especially in early Russian painting and Armenian illuminated manuscripts (miniatures) and frescoes.[3]

Born in the Russian city of Smolensk, Durnovo first attended a local gymnasium and a painting school before moving to Saint Petersburg where she attended the School of Technical Drawing of Baron Alexander von Stieglitz beginning in 1903.[1] She subsequently completed her postgraduate studies at the State Institute of Art History (Государственный институт истории искусств) and the Archaeology Institute (ru) between 1920 and 1923.[1] Durnovo worked as a research fellow at the Archaeology Institute, specializing in early Russian art. She was also the assistant curator of the Russian Museum.[1]

In October 1933 she was arrested for allegedly being an "active member of a counterrevolutionary fascist organization." She was deported to Siberia and eventually freed three years later, in November 1936.[4] Durnovo moved to the Armenian capital of Yerevan and became a member of the staff of the National Gallery of Armenia. Until 1951 she was devoted to the study of medieval Armenian frescoes and illuminated manuscripts.[1] She specialized in medieval Armenian art,[5] and by the mid-1950s Durnovo earned the reputation of an authoritative expert in the field.[1] She supervised the restoration of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral's frescoes.[2] She was rehabilitated by the Soviet government in 1956.[1]

Publications

• Собрание копий памятников древнерусской монументальной живописи Государственного института истории искусств. Л., 1925.
• Техника древнерусской живописи. Русский музей. Художественный отдел. Материалы по технике и методам реставрации древнерусской живописи. Л., 1926.
• Техника древнерусской фрески. Секция пространственных мастеров и научно-показательная часть. Техника стенописи. Гос. академия художественных наук. М., 1927.
• Икона Спаса Нерукотворного (№ 3045. Гос. русский музей). Сб. «Материалы по русскому искусству», т. I. Л., 1928.
• Древнеармянская миниатюра [Old Armenian miniature] (in Russian). Yerevan: Armenian SSR State Publishing. 1952.
  • Miniatures arméniennes (in French). Paris: Les Éditions Cercle d'art. 1960. OCLC 419609788.
  • Armenian miniatures. New York: H.N. Abrams. 1961. OCLC 741860570.
• Краткая история древнеармянской живописи [Brief History of Ancient Armenian Painting] (in Russian). Yerevan: Armenian SSR State Publishing. 1957.

References

На других языках

[ru] Дурново, Лидия Александровна