About the research and restoration of the archaeological banner from the museum of the Krasnogvardeysky fortified area

The article describes the process of research and restoration of an archaeological banner from the Krasnogvardeysky Fortified Area Museum collection (village Novy Svet, Gatchina). 9 fragments of the banner were archaeologically dug in those places of the Gatchina district of the Leningrad region, where in 1941 the militia of the Baltic Zavod, after heavy fighting, left the encirclement towards Leningrad. According to the iconography, materials used and technological techniques, the banner of the Krasnog-vardeysky fortified area can be classified as a typical Soviet banners, numerous analogues of which are in museum collections. The tasks of museumification required more specific technological and imaginative solutions in the selection of restoration materials and strengthening methods than the established practice of visually neutral restoration intervention. When drawing up the program of research and restoration activities, along with the tasks of conservation, special attention was paid to the tasks of preserving signs of memorial value of the object and maintaining its high aesthetic note, thanks to which the object found a lively emotional response from all project participants and museum visitors. In the preparation of the program took part Specialists of the Forensic Center in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, specialists of the Department of Archaeological Leather and Textiles of the Grabar Art Conservation Center researchers and restorers of St. Petersburg and Moscow. As a result of the restoration, fragments of the banner were preserved, mounted on a decorative substrate and placed in a specially designed climatic showcase. Currently, the banner is considered the main relic of the museum and occupies the central part of the exposition dedicated to the heroic defenders of the Krasnogvardeysky fortified area.