Style and Model in Early Russian Icons
An online lecture by Dr. Justin Willson
Icons in early modern Muscovy elicited a variety of responses from viewers. While often defined just in theological terms, icons were valued for their style and virtuosity. This lecture looks at the attitudes of viewers towards the skill of icon painters in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Muscovy. It reflects on how the vocabulary used to describe images mirrors the social and economic networks in which painters and patrons were involved. Reassessing historical sources, the lecture underscores the fluid identity of icon painters and the evolving status of images in a society undergoing tremendous political change. Muscovite authors were cognizant of the role that images had played in Byzantine culture, yet their responses to visual forms reveals key differences from their Greek predecessors. The lecture draws on works of art from several collections, including the Russian History Museum and the Icon Museum and Study Center.
About the Speaker
Justin Willson is Curator at The Icon Museum and Study Center in Clinton, Massachusetts. His exhibition, “Printing Icons: Modern Process, Medieval Image” (October 17, 2024–March 30, 2025) examines how print transformed the creation and reception of Byzantine images across Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Russia over the 17th–19th centuries. His research focuses on concepts of the work of art in later Byzantium and the early Slavic world.
His first book, The Moods of Early Russian Art, which will be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2026, investigates how style, iconography and the function of sacred images changed over the 14th to 16th centuries in Muscovy. He is editing volume 4 in the series Sources in Byzantine Art History, entitled: The Visual Culture of Late Byzantium and the Early Modern Orthodox World, c.1350–c.1669 (under contract with Cambridge University Press). He received his PhD in the Department of Art & Archaeology at Princeton University in 2021 and was the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Art History Leadership at the Cleveland Museum of Art / Case Western Reserve University for 2022–24.
Connecting with Zoom
This virtual lecture is presented live via Zoom. Registered users will be emailed a link to join this Zoom program. To get started, please download Zoom on your chosen device and explore the Frequently Asked Questions.
This program will be recorded and posted to the museum’s YouTube channel.