An ancient Egyptian shroud finds its new home

The long work on conserving an ancient Egyptian shroud from the Pushkin State collection has come to an end.

It took almost half a year to plan and the same amount of time to do this very important and very unique job. The shroud came to the museum as a part of Vladimir Golenishchev's collection. One of only six in the world, it presented unprecedented opportunities for researchers and was in need of urgent conservation. The reasons for that were natural aging, effects of harmful environment, and XIX century conservation treatments. However unprofessional they seem from a modern conservation point of view, those treatments preserved the shroud in a relatively good state.

To save this piece for future generations the Pushkin State art conservators consulted with the specialists from renowned museums and conservation centres of Moscow, Paris and New York. Complex conservation treatments followed an extensive research. The very difficult work of textile and tempera conservators was finished in the spring of 2016. As a result further deterioration of the piece was sustained and the shroud was finally ready to be exhibited.

For that purpose it was placed in a special frame under museum glass (plexi), which is going to protect it from air and humidity.

Right now this unique piece is exhibited at the Room 3 of the Museum. To see it you can visit the main building of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts; you can learn more about its history and conservation on this website.