Viktor Lazarev

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, including the Pergamon Altar. 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. • Illustration — Theophanes the Greek and His School, 1961. Lazarev was a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union 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, its beginnings and the evolution of Western portrait painting.

Viktor Lazarev studied at Faculty of History and Philology of Moscow University, Russian association of social sciences research institutes and Lomonosov Moscow State University. Training under Nikolay Ilyich Romanov is recorded. Viktor Nikolaevich Grashchenkov, Alexei Komech and Vladimir Plugin are recorded as having studied under Viktor Lazarev. The recorded working language is Russian. The field of work recorded is history of art. Employment is recorded with People's Commissariat for Education, Bauman Moscow State Technical University and Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. Distinctions recorded are USSR State Prize, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Mikhail Lomonosov Award and Order of Friendship of Peoples.

• Name — Viktor Lazarev • Birth Name — Viktor Nikitich Lazarev • Born — 3 September 1897 (22 August 1897 O.S.) • Birthplace — Moscow, Soviet Union • Died — 1 February 1976 • Place of death — Moscow, Soviet Union • Resting Place — Vagankovo Cemetery • Education — Doctor of Arts • Alma Mater — Moscow State University • Occupation — Art historian • Employer — Moscow State University • Parents — Nikita Lazarev • Awards — USSR State Prize

• Portrait in European Art of the 17th Century (Портрет в европейском искусстве XVII века), 1937 • Origins of the Italian Renaissance, 1956–1959 • Andrei Rublev and Rublev's School, 1966 • Old Italian Masters, 1972 • Kievan Rus' Mosaics and Frescoes, 1973 • Byzantine and Kievan Rus' Art, 1978