International Workshop Art of Restoration Gathered Leading Experts in Science-Based Restoration

International Workshop «Art of Restoration» started on May 30 in the State Hermitage Museum. This event gathered restoration professionals representing the leading museums, restoration and conservation research centers from Russia and worldwide.

The event will last for four days, and it includes a hard-driving program of speeches covering science-based restoration methods and using cutting-edge technologies in restoration as well as a visit to the Hermitage’s restoration laboratories. The Workshop was arranged by the State Hermitage Museum, OPTEC Group, and ZEISS Microscopy.

Svetlana Adaksina, Deputy Director of the State Hermitage, addressed the workshop participants with a welcome speech during the opening ceremony. Maxim Igelnik, General Manager, OPTEC Group, also addressed the participants with a welcome speech covering the modern microscopy technologies and the analysis methods used to restore works of art.

Research is an important stage before restoration starts. Apart from the exhibits, the materials used for restoration need to be studied as well. For this purpose, a wide range of physical and chemical tests shall be done. The Art of Restoration International Workshop is a forum for the experts to share their experience in science-based restoration. More than 160 participants will come from Russia, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, the USA, South Korea, Turkey, and other countries.

The State Hermitage Museum has a long history of successful cooperation with Carl Zeiss and OPTEC. On December 6, 2016, the parties signed a trilateral agreement which involved holding the Art of Restoration scientific workshop. Many of the scientific sections of the State Hermitage Museum use equipment by ZEISS Microscopy. Experts working in the «Old Village» Restoration and Storage Center at the Department of Scientific Restoration and Conservation of the Museum use ZEISS Stemi 2000 and ZEISS Axio Scope microscopes to study materials. Here they restore ceramics, items of arts and crafts, easel paintings, and photographic materials. Laboratories for scientific restoration of precious metals and for scientific and technical examination use materials research microscopes like ZEISS Stereo Discovery V12, ZEISS Axio Zoom V16, ZEISS Stemi, as well as ZEISS EVO electron microscope. Recently these laboratories have started using ZEISS Merlin, a flagship model of scanning electron microscopes.

At different times the State Hermitage Museum tested pilot flagship models of ZEISS materials research microscopes. Recently, they have installed here ZEISS Merlin, a multi-purpose scanning electron microscope having high performance in terms of resolution and analytical potential.