About the book: 2021 / The fate of the Russian historian of art and literature Viktor Aleksandrovich Nikolsky (1875–1934) was not easy. V. A. Nikolsky’s two-volume work on Russian art was planned to be published in one of the best printing houses of I. D. Sytin in 1915. But even if the author managed to finish his manuscript when the fire of the First World War was already flaring up around the world, Russian publishers were unable to release it in full. The revolution of 1917 set its priorities. V.N. Nikolsky did not become a supporter of the new government; he was imprisoned in Butyrki, then exiled to Siberia, and then to a settlement in Saratov. In the preface to the Berlin edition of 1921, art critic P. P. Muratov wrote: “Russia, even this fourth, industrial Russia, being born in pain, is not America. And we, Russian people, are not people without a past. The age of our arts is immeasurable, and the spirit of very ancient works hovers over our ancient country. The history of Russian art, unknown to Europe and still little known to us, portrays us as the faithful heirs of Byzantium, the guardians of the features of Hellenism that have forever disappeared in the West, the owners of fabulous treasures hidden in our land and revealing themselves throughout all centuries in folk art. Closing this little book, we exclaim with justifiable pride: barbari non sumus!».