Lydia Durnovo

Lydia Aleksandrovna Durnovo (Russian: Лидия Александровна Дурново; 1885 – 1963) was a Soviet 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]