Department director Tatyana A. Baranova
Òålephone: (812) 710-97-47, 710-97-45
Fax: (812) 710-97-45

The Hermitage collection consists of more than 2,7 million separate
inventory entries. They all require not only conservation but, given their susceptibility to aging, restoration and the uncovering of their true qualities.

The history of the development of restoration work in the Hermitage is closely related to the history of the museum itself. In the 18th and 19th centuries, attention was mainly devoted to the restoration of paintings, which already then constituted a significant collection. Simple restoration and mounting procedures were also applied to etchings and drawings; cleaning was performed on coins, medals and arms; and broken antique vases were glued together.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the fundamentals of scientific restoration began to take shape.

As the museum holdings expanded in the 1920s and 1930s, the question of organizing a restoration department arose. There was a need to create new workshops and laboratories. Workshops specializing in the restoration of graphics, textiles and objects of applied art were opened. In 1936 the Hermitage created the country's first X-ray laboratory for systematic investigation of the structure of art works.

During World War II (1941-1945), the museum's art restorers, like all other museum staff, were charged with the task of evacuating the exhibits, organizing the necessary conditions for conservation of the collections, and also caring for the museum buildings and the cultural monuments which remained in Leningrad during the Siege.

In the post-war years, the practical activity of restorers was concentrated on saving art works which had suffered damage and those which arrived from the evacuation. Artists, art connoisseurs, historians, and specialists with technical knowledge and those educated in the natural sciences joined the ranks of the master practitioners in the department. They drew upon the latest achievements of science and technology to elaborate a multi-disciplinary method of restoring works of art. The Hermitage opened laboratories for restoring monumental paintings and coloured stones as well as a chemical laboratory.

At present the Department of Scientific Restoration and Conservation consists of 10 laboratories and a group of biological defence: restoration of easel paintings, monumental painting, graphic works, watercolours, tempera painting, textiles, sculpture and coloured stones, objects of applied art, objects of applied art made from organic materials, clocks and musical mechanisms. The activity of art restorers is closely linked to investigative work not only within other Hermitage departments but at outside research organizations. The department staff contribute to publications and issue reports.

The Department of Scientific Restoration and Conservation is very active in the preparatory work for exhibitions within the Hermitage and abroad. The museum has a restoration commission and a restoration council.

The department staff regularly check the condition of exhibits in the storerooms. They take part in restoration councils of related institutions, conduct courses for students of art colleges, give consultations and participate in archeological expeditions. Russian and foreign colleagues are offered training programmes in the department's laboratories.