Irina Linnik
Irina Vladimirovna Linnik (Russian: Ирина Владимировна Линник; 1922 – 23 March 2009) was a prominent Russian art historian. Considered an icon in Dutch art history and a leading specialist in Western European painting, Linnik's work was mainly concerned with the identification and attribution of 17th-century paintings from the Low Countries, France and Italy. Over the course of her career she identified, attributed and re-attributed around 250 different paintings. Early life Irina Vladimirovna Linnik was born in 1922. She was the daughter of (1889–1984), a well-known Soviet physicist, and sister of Yuri Linnik (1915–1972), a well-known mathematician. Linnik studied at the Leningrad University and graduated in 1946 with an education in medieval history. Professional career After her graduation, Linnik began working at the State Hermitage Museum in Leningrad (later Saint Petersburg), which she remained closely connected to for the rest of her life. She worked for many years as the curator of the museum's department of Western European art. Linnik sometimes travelled abroad for her research; her first time outside the Soviet Union was a trip to the Netherlands in 1958. On this trip, she visited the former home of the artist Rembrandt (1606–1669), whose work she admired. Linnik was a