Born Feb. 8 (20), 1862, in Mariupol’; died Dec. 12, 1939, in Leningrad. Soviet art historian; corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1914). Ainalov studied at the Novorossiisky University in Odessa with N. P. Kondakov. In 1903, he became a professor at St. Petersburg University.
Ainalov’s works combine aesthetic analysis of works of art with historical-cultural evaluation. His main works include The Hellenistic Basis of Byzantine Art (1900), which for the first time reveals the nature of the aesthetic evolution of Byzantine art; Byzantine Painting of the 14th Century (1917); History of Russian Monumental Art (2 vols.; 1932–33, in German); and Studies of Leonardo da Vinci (1939).