The second volume of the History of Russian Art (hereinafter - IRI), like the previous one, is divided chronologically into two parts. One of them covers the period from the second quarter of the XII century. to about the 1160s, the other is devoted to the art of the second half - the end of the XII century. In the political and spiritual life of Ancient Russia, these were two different eras, each of them has its own characteristics, reflected in all spheres of culture and art, which determined the methods proposed by the authors for considering monuments, the nature of building texts.