Today one cannot imagine Gallery life without the involvement of restorers. Together with the curators, they monitor the condition of art works in storage and on display. They participate in restoration boards who make decision on whether an item requires restoration work. The restoration is always associated with research. A restorer needs the talent of an artist and the aptitude of a researcher. They need to employ calculations and intuition, he needs infinite patience in this meticulous work and the ability to remain in the "shadows", unnoticed.

     In the hundred year history of the Gallery several generations of high class restorers have emerged and the museumΓÇÖs "school" has been established.

     The scientific restoration of oil paintings at the Tretyakov Gallery has a long and glorious history. Painting restorers at the Gallery have accumulated tremendous experience, helping them to solve even the most difficult problems and carry out unique types of work. Their achievements include the restoration of the masterpiece Princess of Dreams by M.A. Vrubel. This large canvas was produced in 1896, and spent decades lying rolled up among the stage props at the Bolshoi Theatre.

     The huge canvas with an area of approximately 90 sq metres was rumpled and creased, its paint surface contained many gaps and losses. The restoration work on "Princess of Dreams" was carried out between 1987-1995 under the supervision of A.P. Kovalyov, an outstanding restorer. They had to remove carpenterΓÇÖs glue and patches (traces of previous "restoration work"), repair cracks in the canvas, as well as replacing where the canvas had been lost. The canvasΓÇÖ huge surface then needed to be smoothed. Having strengthened the paint layer, painting restorers began the doubling of the authorΓÇÖs canvas when it was glued to a new one, custom-built for this purpose. Fixed on the easel of light African timber, the canvas took its place in the exhibition, and its painting was restored in the presence of the Gallery visitors.

     As a result of the unique restoration operation by Gallery restorers, the museum acquired yet another wonderful addition to its rich collection.

     Restoring icons starts by stabilizing the entire area of the paint layer, the primer and the base where necessary. The wood on which icons were originally painted "breathes", it dries and cracks, and that results in substantial painting loss. The main rule that the icon restorers need to follow is to preserve the icon as an integral organism. The long history of restoration work at the Tretyakov Gallery has helped to develop principles for museum restoration which minimize interference in the art work. The work of art is not so much restored as is "preserved" in the same condition as it has survived until today.

     One of the main tasks here is to reveal the retained layer of original painting usually hidden under layers of black drying oil and later paint. X-ray examination, ultraviolet and infrared tests and microscope analysis are used to find out in which areas contain original paint. Then a meticulous and long process starts to reveal the original work, layer by layer, from the more recent painting.

     The toning stage follows this process, when the surviving fragments of original paint are blended with ordinary tonal daubs. Water colours dissolved in water are used in toning, because they can be easily washed away. The restorer must never become the "co-author" of the work, his goal is to retain the stylistic peculiarities of the art work he is restoring.

     Restoration of graphics as an independent type of work appeared only in the mid 1940s and the corresponding department at the Tretyakov Gallery appeared in 1958. It is a very complicated area of restoration work. Restorers have to deal with different materials and techniques. The arsenal of graphic art includes drawings made in pencils and water colours, in coal and gouache, pastel and ink, all kinds of engravings, pictures produced in oil on paper or, on the contrary, with charcoal on canvas. Paper, on which most graphic works are produced, is an extremely fragile material that does not have a long life. It yellows over time, it cracks and wrinkles. It may become mouldy, show wet smears, wrinkle, break, rub away on the edges and along the fold lines, glue may dissolve it, especially the type used for stationery. Therefore the first task of the restorer is to restore the base. Special flour glue is traditionally used for this purpose. The icon restorers at the Gallery prepare it using a recipe developed more than half a century ago. This glue helps to remove dirt and to restore the structure of paper. In addition, sheets with drawings are placed in the "chamber for distant damping", kept in special presses between pieces of thick felt, processed with chemical substancesΓǪ Some methods used by restorers look incredible. Thus when they want to freshen a water colour, they wash it inΓǪ water. It is difficult to count how many drawings, including those that were regarded as lost completely, were restored by Department staff. In autumn 2002 their work was recognised by a special exhibition which demonstrated the results of work by certain restorers, their names were mentioned along side with the names of the authors whose works were given new life by them.

     The Restoration Studio of Sculpture emerged at the Tretyakov Gallery at the turn of the 1970s-1980s. Yet even now restorers who work with sculpture are not taught in any educational institution in Russia. The spectre of materials used in sculpture is extremely wide. It includes marble, bronze, timber of various types, stone, plaster, terracotta, majolica, glass, china, wax, ivoryΓǪ All these materials can suffer from a huge number of "conditions": stone becomes weather worn, timber cracks, bronze is oxidized, plaster, like a sponge, draws in pollution, the crystal structure of marble changes when it is hit: a spot of a different colour appears on its surface ΓÇô a regular "bruise".

     Sculptors often work on sculptures using the most unexpected substances and materials without leaving any notes or indications about their components. Recent sculptural works are characterized by a particular creative freedom. How the material will behave is often unpredictable. And it is the restorer who has to consider the consequences of the sculptorΓÇÖs creative experiment, so the restoration artist needs a truly unique knowledge, skills and intuition.