The Moods of Early Russian Art

An examination of the values and debates that shaped early East Slavic art.

The Moods of Early Russian Art describes an alternative early modernity at the easternmost border of the European cultural sphere, where the Renaissance marked a return not to secular humanism but to the religiosity and art of the Middle Ages. Charting a kind of “Renaissance in reverse,” art historian Justin Willson explores how the value placed on style and virtuosity faded in importance as the Church cultivated ...