"a superb English translation of Gerold Vzdornov’s 1986 seminal study of the nineteenth century’s discovery and study of Russian medieval icons and frescoes within imperial Russia. The welcome English version of one of his encyclopedic and beautifully illustrated monographs should become a staple of every university library and essential reading for scholars and students interested in the history and culture of imperial Russia."

"The evidence and conclusions of this monograph should shatter once and for all various preconceived notions that the destruction of Russian religious art began with the Bolshevik regime, that restoration work always involved modern understandings of the word “restoration,” and that Russian medieval painting was revered throughout the ages."

"Through the lens of art history Vzdornov delivers nothing less than a reinterpretation of late imperial Russian history and a chronicling of the destruction of much of ancient medieval Russian and Ukrainian art up through the turn of the twentieth century. It is little wonder that medievalists and early modernists often have to rely on surviving embroideries and manuscript illustrations to reconstruct the art and symbolism of their eras."

Christine D. Worobec, review of The History of the Discovery and Study of Russian Medieval Painting, by Gerol’d I. Vzdornov, Journal of Icons Studies 2 (2019) - https://doi.org/10.36391/JIS2/006BR