[Тютчев]

Recovery after the fire

About 10 percent of antiques require a new restoration

Joan Vassiliev

On Friday, when he came to work after the disaster, they were ready to deal. They seized the gloves, gowns, respirators, even ... But who knew that the place of fire to take rubber boots? The building of scientific restoration center behalf IE Grabar, ziyavshem black dips broken windows on the second floor was a foam. And polpyatnitsy washed it with water from fire hoses. Policeman standing at the entrance, wrap those employees who had hoped to enter, wrapped his legs plastic bags. "You what?" There the water ankle-deep. This is an alkaline solution. Burns would like to receive? And broken glass. Only in his boots! " Someone started to call home with a request to find boots - yes ordinary, rubber. Someone asked deficient footwear published by colleagues - "defied himself, tell someone. Someone raced to the nearest store "Fisherman", which appears to be for Friday sold its entire stock.

Inside really was water. For some reason she still poured from the ceiling. Specifically, dripping. Ceilings, however, bore little resemblance to ceilings. Since they were hanging wires, bulbs, remnants of panels. Corridors, however, remained. But without doors. In waterlogged spaces workshops, where the only light came from broken windows, restorers have worked, deciding what work to pull in the first place. On the offer of help looked appreciatively and wary. "We have big things, you can not help", - answered politely, without expressing aloud suspicion.

And downstairs in the courtyard, where tables had already pulled out, began to make things saved. The first carried the two prophets XV-XVI. They seem to have never suffered. They are neatly placed in Tenek on wooden podstavochku. Podstavochka, as well as tables, as well as cardboard, which they spread on the ground, has emerged as something quickly. After some time the girl made out of the house icon. She carried her on his outstretched hands, put on the table and wept. Most of the image black. Around the icons bustled. That seemed a hopeless case, in the eyes of the pros, it seems, so does not appear.

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In general, everything that happens around quickly began to resemble a field hospital. I suddenly realized that the profession "restorer" and "reanimator" have much in common. Especially when I saw Nadia Koshkin, who for years worked in the Grabar Center, and now in the Pushkin Museum to them. AS Pushkin, before entering a burned out building that puts not only boots, and white robe. This white gown, looking as if extremely inappropriate, immediately put everything in place. The work of restorers - to save. Here is a little talked about. But where some were taken blank sheets of white paper, which soaked face Korsun Mother of God in a silver frame. From somewhere appeared a strip that checks the alkaline medium. Someone immediately began to conduct an inventory of things. Someone stand next to guard.

Center Director Alexei Petrovich Vladimirov at the time was not exactly up to the interview, but he has agreed to speak about the losses that are already evident.

Alexei Vladimirov: The third floor was burned completely. There was a conference hall. There is practically nothing is stored. Exception - a portrait of Alexander I's five-meter on a horse from the gallery in 1812.

On the second floor, which was flooded, affected by things that were on the table restorers. It damaged the icon of St. Stephen of Perm in the Life of the Museum of Syktyvkar. They have already been restored. But the restorers hope that they will do everything possible to restore the image.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: You can say about the number of affected things?

Vladimirov: We have been in 1300 things - ranging from small coins to large icons. Calling the exact casualty figures today, it is simply impossible. We do not yet carried out. According to rough estimates of the maximum percentage of damaged 10 things.

WG: How many museums were things?

Vladimirov: Of the 50 museums. We are very excited for the Novgorod icon Korsun Mother of God and for the Pskov shroud XVI century. They survived. Flooded with water, but they are amenable to restoration.

WG: The things from the Tretyakov Gallery have you been?

Vladimirov: No, from the Tretyakov Gallery was nothing.

WP: What was to keep exactly, it is already clear?

Vladimirov: Repository, our concrete bunker, preserved all that was there. Photo, rentgenoteku ... Every department store where fund made things.

WG: Everyone asks how it happened that things were not insured?

Vladimirov: Ctrahuyutsya things that are exported abroad. We departmental ministerial agencies. Museums bring us things. We took them under the act for safekeeping. We all times. Tree barrier protection. Insurance involves a totally different budget and different funding.

WG: Where do we take out things?

Vladimirov:, mainly in ROSIZO, the former factory Vucetic, the main repository of the Ministry of Culture. We have several floors released.
 
Published in WP (Federal Issue) N5236 of 19 July 2010

http://www.rg.ru/2010/07/19/grabar.html