The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT
The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT
The STaTe hermiTage muSeum annual reporT
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major constructIon anD restoratIon major constructIon anD restoratIon<br />
repairS To accumulaTor BaTTery (raSTrelli gallery)<br />
<strong>The</strong> accumulator battery to provide current for lamps and<br />
lights outside opening hours and in emergencies was set<br />
up in the early 1980s. Its power was 300 a/h. It consisted of<br />
112 separate open lead cells filled with a solution of sulfuric<br />
acid. During their charging, acid vapours were released<br />
with the formation of hydrogen. <strong>The</strong> battery maintenance<br />
required particular caution and thoroughness and ranked<br />
among dangerous and hazardous jobs.<br />
In 2010 the operation of replacing the battery cells, installing<br />
lighting fixtures and doors conforming to fire safety<br />
regulations in the battery room was put out to tender. CJSC<br />
ERViS’s bid was accepted and the company installed newgeneration<br />
60З2S 300ВАЕ batteries with over 20 years’<br />
serviceability. <strong>The</strong>ir design features caps that fit the cells<br />
hermetically precluding any leakages of gas or electrolyte.<br />
<strong>The</strong> batteries are provided with special filter plugs that prevent<br />
acid aerosols in operation. A lighting system that conforms<br />
to the current fire safety standards for rooms of this<br />
type was installed in the battery room; its protection code<br />
corresponds to IP65. An appropriate door was installed in<br />
the battery room, of E160 fire-safety class. <strong>The</strong> work was<br />
overseen by the staff of the Chief Power Engineer.<br />
From September to December 2010, a team of chasers<br />
from LLC Rest-Art were busy restoring thirty repousse copper<br />
sculptures on the parapet of the northern and eastern<br />
facades of the Winter Palace; the work proceeded under<br />
technical supervision by the Hermitage Restoration and<br />
Repairs Department, the museum’s Department of the History<br />
and Restoration of Architectural Monuments, as well<br />
as by representatives of Rosokhrankultura (Federal Service<br />
for the Protection of Cultural Heritage). <strong>The</strong> concrete filling<br />
was removed from the hollow insides of the figures,<br />
the details of the iron armatures and copper casings were<br />
cleaned. <strong>The</strong> rusted lower parts of the armatures were dismantled.<br />
<strong>The</strong> brick foundations were inspected by experts<br />
and their conservation was performed; openings were<br />
drilled for additional pipes to reinforce the armatures. For<br />
some armatures new elements were made, with both old<br />
and new parts of the armatures coated with an anticorrosive<br />
agent. All lost details were reproduced and the shabby<br />
sheets of copper on hatches were replaced. All deformities<br />
were smoothened and the seams riveted and soldered.<br />
All the surfaces were cleaned of dirt deposits, crumbly layers<br />
of patina and copper oxides. To provide extra protection to<br />
the copper casings and avoid spottiness in the overall colour<br />
scheme, the restorers used a three-coat painting system.<br />
<strong>The</strong> statuary on the parapets of the Winter Palace was installed<br />
in the spring of 1762. <strong>The</strong> figures had been hewn of<br />
Pudost limestone by Russian stone sculptors after sketches<br />
by the Italian architect Rastrelli. <strong>The</strong> frailty of Pudost limestone<br />
and the northern climate caused quick dilapidation<br />
of the statuary, whereas attempts at restoration proved unsuccessful.<br />
When one more stone vase fell down from the<br />
roof of the Winter Palace, a decision was made that the<br />
stone figures be replaced by chased copper sculptures.<br />
During the installation of the repousse copper statues, the<br />
lower parts of the figures were filled, up to their chests,<br />
with crushed limestone and sand, and lime was poured<br />
over the filling. <strong>The</strong> porous limestone and lime inside the<br />
copper casings absorbed moisture from the condensate,<br />
creating constant humidity round the armatures and causing<br />
accelerated corrosion of their iron. No openings had<br />
been provided in the lower parts of the figures for the outflow<br />
of excessive condensate. <strong>The</strong> accumulating moisture<br />
led to progressively increasing corrosion in the armatures,<br />
affecting their strength. Consequently, hardly thirty years<br />
had passed when the copper statuary began to dilapidate.<br />
After the causes of the poor condition of the statues<br />
were established, new restoration work was carried out.<br />
<strong>The</strong> rocks and sand were removed and concrete mortar<br />
was poured in their stead, to a depth of 0.5 to 1 m. In the<br />
1940s, the surfaces of the statues were painted black with<br />
a mixture of linseed oil and soot. In 1976 the Hermitage<br />
started a systematic planned restoration of all the parapet<br />
sculptures of the Winter Palace, one by one, by the State<br />
Hermitage Museum’s own workforce of skilled restorers.<br />
<strong>The</strong> process of restoration normally began with the cleaning<br />
away of the black paint and the replacement or strengthening<br />
of the rusted parts of the armatures. <strong>The</strong>n the entire<br />
surfaces of the armatures were coated with an anticorrosive<br />
agent, whereas burst seams, holes and places of rupture<br />
were soldered, with occasional patches. <strong>The</strong> cleaned<br />
surface of copper was kept for a while outdoors, for a layer<br />
of so-called “noble” patina to form, which, in the opinion<br />
of those days’ specialists, was a good means of protecting<br />
copper from atmospheric effects.<br />
Present-day experts are of the opinion that a coat of patina<br />
on figures made of thin sheets of copper in the hostile atmosphere<br />
of a big industrial city is insufficient protection<br />
and therefore additional protective measures are called for.<br />
For a better wind resistance, the lower parts of the armatures<br />
should be reinforced; the design of the attachments<br />
should be changed and further strengthened. <strong>The</strong> hollow<br />
insides of the figures should not be filled with anything so<br />
as to stay properly ventilated and be accessible for control<br />
over their state of preservation not only where the armatures<br />
and attachments are concerned, but also the inside<br />
surfaces of copper sheets.<br />
reSToraTion of <strong>The</strong> repouSSe copper SculpTureS on <strong>The</strong> winTer palace parapeTS 55Th anniverSary of <strong>The</strong> deparTmenT of elecTronic eQuipmenT,<br />
alarm and communicaTion SySTemS<br />
<strong>The</strong> Department of Electronic Equipment, Alarm and<br />
Communication Systems was exactly 55 years old on December<br />
1, 2010. It was formed by order of Mikhail Artamonov,<br />
the then Director of the State Hermitage Museum,<br />
in 1955 in connection with the opening of a new automatic<br />
telephone station and the first burglar alarm system in the<br />
museum. At that time the Department comprised seven<br />
staff members, who operated the telephone exchange and<br />
the museum’s first burglar alarm control panel. <strong>The</strong> panel<br />
was assembled by the staff, who used for the purpose some<br />
components of the old exchange; about 300 points were<br />
protected – chiefly the door and windows of the ground<br />
floor. At present the original control panel is kept as a historical<br />
exhibit in the office of the Deputy Director for<br />
Maintenance.<br />
As electronics developed, the Hermitage Museum kept<br />
expanding its systems for burglar alarm and communication;<br />
other new systems were introduced, such as fire alarm<br />
systems, fire extinguishing video surveillance, computer<br />
networks and wireless communication. <strong>The</strong> Department<br />
grew numerically as new sections and new positions were<br />
created.<br />
At present the Department consists of 32 members employed<br />
in its three sections: alarm systems, communication<br />
and video-surveillance. <strong>The</strong> Department is responsible for<br />
the introduction and operation of means of electronic security,<br />
communication systems, computer hardware, fire<br />
safety, as well as other electronic equipment and systems<br />
required for the normal functioning of the museum.<br />
In the elapsed year 2010 the Department completed all its<br />
projects on repairs to the telephone exchange and the replacement<br />
of the museum’s automatic telephone station;<br />
it carried out an updating of the server room, in the course<br />
of which some sophisticated equipment was installed,<br />
as well as highly productive servers and a data storage facility.<br />
Extensive work was performed to install and put into<br />
operation one of the latest alarm systems that protects<br />
about a thousand paintings in the museum.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Department mounted a digital HD surveillance system<br />
to safeguard the Alexander Column. Its high-resolution<br />
enables the guards to identify people within the zone<br />
covered and record whatever acts they perform.<br />
Work is under way to equip the Big (Old) and Small Hermitage<br />
buildings with fire safety systems; updating and expanding<br />
the integrated burglar alarm and access control<br />
system is being currently carried out and additional video<br />
surveillance cameras are being installed.<br />
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