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Opening of the halls of French art from the
16th-18th and 19th-20th centuries following renovation work On 25 May 2005 the State Hermitage presented to the public the results of one of the largest renovation projects which the museum initiated in 2004. On 26 June 2004 the State Hermitage signed an Agreement on a Financial Contribution with the French companies Credit Agricole S.A. and Caisse des depots et consignations concerning charitable money to be used for restoration of 18 rooms located on the third and fourth floors of the Winter Palace where French art of the 16th-18th and 19th-20th centuries is on permanent display. Before the main renovation work was started, new electrical wiring , new lighting, as well as communications and alarm systems, were all installed. In halls on the third floor, work was done to clean the sculptural elements and paintings on the ceilings; the artificial and natural marble was cleaned, plastering was redone, and the panels on doors and oak window elements were repaired. The system of lighting in the halls was fundamentally changed: in addition to chandeliers, which all underwent restoration work, spot lighting was set into recesses in the walls and cornices. In the halls on the fourth floor facing south, forced draft and exhaust ventilation was installed prior to repair and renovation work. The project provided for a single ventilation system, while taking into account the orientation and physical location of these premises The new lighting system illuminates paintings from above, at an angle. In the process of renovation, the original appearance of the windows with their small glass panes and transoms was restored using remaining historical samples for guidance. The walls of halls in suite (enfilade) have been painted in various colors with a transition from gray to beige to green to brown. A great deal of work was done to restore the parquet floors. When this project was being carried out, changes were made to the system used to fasten labels identifying the paintings. In place of the old paper labels, which were glued directly onto the wall, new labels have been placed on raised brackets, which in turn are fixed onto metal strips fastened to the wall. This system has the advantage that the brackets can be easily moved along the wall on the metal strips and when a painting is moved or re-hung there is no need to glue the labels on in new places. The repair and restoration work was performed by four subcontractor organizations:
the Special Production Workshops of the State Hermitage, OOO Beta Kom,
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Copyright © 2006 State Hermitage Museum |
