More than 1,000 analyses and studies carried out on ZEISS equipment
In an official ceremony on 4th April, The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg became the first labs@location Partner for ZEISS in Russia. In the Council Hall of the Hermitage, a supplement to the existing collaboration agreement was signed between the State Hermitage, ZEISS, and the OPTEC Group. The subject of the supplement was the creation of a joint research and consultation reference center implemented on the basis of the State Hermitage’s Department for Scientific Restoration and Conservation.
“Today we are holding a historic signing ceremony with ZEISS, a company that has enabled us for many years now to be at the leading edge in the field of the restoration and study of museum exhibits. Now we are entering a new phase: we are creating a laboratory where new devices will be put into operation, tested, and demonstrated. This project is an embodiment of everything for which we were created – doing, experimenting, collaborating, and also providing an example for other museums and institutions,” Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the State Hermitage, said in his speech.
Prof. Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, General Director of the Hermitage; Dr. Renate Burgemeister, Director ZEISS labs@location, and Nicholas von Korff, Managing Director of OPTEC (from left to right) cut the ribbon.
Scientific restoration and conservation at Hermitage with ZEISS instruments
Today, the laboratories of the Department for Scientific Restoration and Conservation use 16 light and electron microscopes from ZEISS for restoration purposes. In the past, more than 1,000 analyses and studies have been carried out on ZEISS equipment. The Hermitage restorers have presented the results of the various work carried out in 15 papers at Russian and international conferences and seminars, and have produced some 20 publications. ZEISS equipment has been used to hold five master classes on modern methods of research in the field of restoration and more than 30 study sessions with university students and visiting colleagues from Russian and foreign museums.
“The Hermitage is not only one of the largest and most famous museums in the world, but also a remarkable center of restoration and a research institution. We are proud that the Hermitage now belongs to our labs@location community and we are looking forward to a good and successful cooperation”, said Dr. Renate Burgemeister, who leads the labs@location program at ZEISS.
A joint research and consultation reference center
The aim behind the creation of the center is public educational activities and the popularization of the use of high-precision methods of analysis for restoration and expert examination, as well as in other fields. The project envisages an exchange of experience with museums, laboratories, higher educational institutions, and research organizations working in Russia and abroad, the creation of joint publications on the research carried out, as well as the implementation of inter-museum research and restoration projects. The center will conduct an appraisal of state-of-the-art research devices and a demonstration of it on the equipment of the Department for Scientific Restoration and Conservation and apparatus provided free of charge by ZEISS and OPTEC.
Igor Malkiel, Head of the Laboratory for Scientific Restoration of Precious Metals, The State Hermitage Museum.
About the State Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The second-largest art museum in the world was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky.
Today, the Hermitage is more than just one of the largest and most famous museums in the world, it is also an unprecedented restoration center, a storage facility, and a science institution. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items.
Facts, Figures, and Reports about the State Hermitage Museum
Source: https://www.hermitagemuseum.org