Le immagini non bruciano: Nicoletta Misler e la storia dell’arte russa in Italia

This article by Silvia Burini examines the pioneering role of Nicoletta Misler in establishing Russian art history as an academic discipline in Italy. It situates Misler’s work within a broader context marked by the historical marginalization of Russian visual culture in Western scholarship and by the skepticism she faced within both art history and Slavic studies. Beginning in the late 1970s, Misler introduced and taught the first course on Russian art history in Italy, promoting an interdisciplinary approach that combined linguistic competence, cultural knowledge, and visual analysis. The essay highlights Misler’s groundbreaking research on the Russian avant-garde, including key figures such as Kazimir Malevich and Pavel Filonov, as well as her innovative methodological contributions, particularly her use of archival and photographic sources. Her work extended beyond art history to engage with philosophy, semiotics, and cultural theory, notably through her studies on Pavel Florensky. In doing so, she helped reframe Russian art within a broader intellectual and European context. Equally significant was her role as an educator and institution builder: Misler not only legitimized the teaching of Russian art history in Italy but also trained a new generation of interdisciplinary scholars. The article concludes by անդրoring her lasting legacy, embodied both in her scholarly contributions and in her extensive private library, conceived as a “biblioteca d’autore,” which stands as a material and methodological testament to her holistic vision of cultural research.